398: Chapter 398 Tourism Chaos

Dongjiang City is a major tourist city with many 5A-level scenic spots within its borders.

Since he had not officially taken office yet and still had some time, Qin Chuan prepared to take Zhu Qingxi to enjoy Dongjiang City properly.

They took the high-speed rail from the provincial capital, arriving at the Dongjiang City high-speed rail South Station in an hour and a half, and casually hailed a taxi.

"Driver, please help us find a hotel, something medium-to-high end is fine."

The driver was quite enthusiastic. "You are here for tourism in Dongjiang City, right? It is peak tourist season now, and many hotels are fully booked."

"But don't worry, you met me today, and I know of a hotel that still has rooms available."

The driver was not bad and quite talkative. He chatted with Qin Chuan a lot along the way, and the hotel he found was actually not bad.

It was just a little expensive.

The price of a standard room reached 1,588 yuan, and they did not negotiate or offer discounts.

While checking in, Qin Chuan heard someone complaining nearby. His hearing was good, so he heard it clearly.

"Why is it so expensive? I stayed here a few months ago, and the standard room price was only over three hundred."

"Yeah, this price hike is outrageous."

Their conversation was overheard by the front desk clerk, who said with dissatisfaction, "Now is the peak tourist season, and all hotels in the city have raised prices. Do you want to stay or not? If you wait any longer, there won't be any rooms left."

"Fine, we will take a standard room."

The young couple was helpless. They had looked for several hotels, and the prices were not cheap. Among the same price range, this one had the best environment, so they had to stay here.

Qin Chuan couldn't help but ask the hotel front desk, "Do you raise prices whenever it is peak season?"

The front desk didn't even look up and replied, "Of course we raise prices during peak season. There is no reason not to make money, right? During National Day and May Day, our prices are even higher, with standard rooms over 2,500 yuan, and it is hard to even get a room."

Qin Chuan shook his head bitterly. They really treated tourists like leeks. If they kept cutting them like this, in a few years, tourists wouldn't come anymore.

After taking office, he would definitely have to deal with this problem.

Since he hadn't taken office yet, he could only keep it in mind and had no plans to deal with it for the time being. After completing the check-in, Zhu Qingxi started to make a plan for how to play for the next few days.

Actually, visiting Dongjiang City was quite simple. If there was a car and a professional local tour guide, it would be even simpler.

To make things easier for himself, Qin Chuan hired a tour guide, the one-on-one kind. This beautiful tour guide named Xiao Li served only them.

One car plus a tour guide meant only three people, which was much more relaxed, just a little expensive.

Upon asking, he found out that the main reason was the high ticket prices. Tourism in Dongjiang City was divided into peak and off-seasons, and the peak season ticket prices for major tourist attractions were much higher, and it is currently peak season.

For example, Qin Chuan and his wife were currently visiting this 5A-level scenic spot called "Camel Peak." The off-season ticket was 98 yuan, while the peak season ticket price was as high as 298 yuan, which was quite outrageous.

It seemed that Dongjiang City really treated tourists like leeks. If this continued, Qin Chuan believed it wouldn't work.

"No photos allowed here, walk away, walk away."

On a viewing platform, Qin Chuan and Zhu Qingxi were preparing to take a few photos when a man immediately came over to drive them away.

His attitude was very bad, even a bit arrogant.

Qin Chuan didn't want to argue with such a person and lower his own status, so if they didn't let him take photos, he wouldn't.

Another young man, however, refused to accept it. He was also taking photos there, and after being driven away, he retorted, "Why can't photos be taken here? This isn't your place, you're overstepping your bounds."

The arrogant man immediately started hurling abuse, saying all sorts of ugly things.

A conflict broke out between the two sides until the scenic spot management personnel arrived.

Qin Chuan asked the tour guide Xiao Li, "What is going on? Why are photos not allowed? And the scenic spot management personnel are even favoring that arrogant man."

Xiao Li explained, "Brother Qin, this spot has been contracted out, and there is a fee for taking photos here."

So that was it.

They really knew how to operate, contracting everything out. But doing so would make the tourist experience very poor.

After playing for two days, Qin Chuan saw many chaotic phenomena in Dongjiang City's tourism. Not only was the management poor, with money required everywhere, but there was also price gouging and staged accidents, which was vastly different from the Dongjiang City he had imagined.

It was simply full of chaos.

On the second day, Qin Chuan personally experienced a staged accident.

It was after a day of playing, around 5 PM, and under the guidance of the tour guide Xiao Li, they were strolling through the tourist culture street of Dongjiang City.

This was a pedestrian street that Dongjiang City had spent a lot of money to build, keeping it antique with large stone slabs paved on the ground instead of cement.

There were many people, and there were many shops on both sides selling various handicrafts, local specialties, and so on.

Zhu Qingxi liked shopping.

Originally, she was a bit tired after climbing the mountain all day, but when she arrived here, she was almost fully revived and became enthusiastic, buying several things in a short while.

"Beauty, take a look at the bracelets!"

"Authentic old-pit glass-species, look at this water, how beautiful it is."

A shopkeeper was desperately trying to sell his jade bracelet to Zhu Qingxi and shoved a bracelet directly into her hand.

Zhu Qingxi was not stupid. At a glance, this jade bracelet was of inferior quality. It might have been soaked in potion to fill it with glue, or it was just glass, but it just looked beautiful; in fact, it was worthless.

She certainly wouldn't reach out to receive the bracelet the shopkeeper forcibly shoved over.

"Crack!"

With a soft sound, the bracelet shattered into pieces. The shopkeeper, who had been full of enthusiasm, suddenly changed his face.

"Beauty, you broke my bracelet. Look what you're going to do!"

Qin Chuan sneered coldly. They were actually using this tactic on him. He took a step forward. "What? Do you expect me to compensate you? You shoved it over yourself; we didn't even reach out our hands."

Several men in the shop surrounded them, looking on with hostility. The shopkeeper even said, "Cut the crap. This glass-species bracelet is broken. Don't think about leaving without paying two hundred thousand. Pay up obediently."

Qin Chuan said, "It seems you have decided that you've got us. Do you know that this is extortion?"

The shopkeeper revealed a ferocious look. "Kid, don't look for trouble. Pay up, or don't think about walking out of this shop door."

The tour guide Xiao Li quickly called the police and persuaded, "Brother Qin, don't argue with them. Wait for the police to come."

Suddenly, quite a few onlookers gathered around.

Most of them were tourists, a small number were locals, or nearby merchants.

"Bad luck. That bracelet looked good, it might not be cheap."

"Pfft, you believe that? This is clearly price gouging. That bracelet might be plastic or glass, it's not worth anything at all!"

"Liu Laosan is getting bolder. Two days ago, using the same tactic, he fleeced a couple from the Northeast for over eighty thousand. Today, he's targeting this young couple."

"The police coming is useless. Liu Laosan is familiar with them, and the police won't care at all."

"..."

Such words from the surroundings reached Qin Chuan's ears, and the sneer at the corner of his mouth grew stronger. So it was a habitual offender, not the first time. Then don't blame him for being impolite.