Authorities in Sanya have ordered tourists not to swim or sunbathe in the nude.
Chinese state media reported the town’s mayor as saying that nudism would no longer be tolerated in China’s most popular beach resort, with police officers being sent to beaches to order tourists to cover up.
“Police officers will patrol the public beaches, telling people to wear bathing suits, and can detain those who refuse to do so,” the China Daily quoted mayor Wang Yong as saying during Hainan’s provincial people’s congress on Sunday.
And according to a notice released by Sanya police, people who refuse to cover up will be arrested and detained for up to 10 days. To encourage visitors to comply, urban management officers in Sanya have already started erecting signs on Dadonghai Beach ordering tourists to abide by the new regulations. And police said that surveillance cameras would also be installed on beaches.
The clampdown follows reports from local residents saying that the number of nude sunbathers was on the rise, with up to 500 nude tourists reported at Dadonghai Beach at peak times.
The issue came to a head during the recent seven-day Spring Festival holiday period, when many Chinese tourists and local residents are reported to have complained to authorities about the practice.
Sanya is China’s most popular beach resort, welcoming tens of millions of domestic tourists each year. And the town is becoming increasingly popular with international tourists, especially those from Russia, following the launch of charter flights from several Russian cities.
Local media noted that several regions of China have tried to launch nudist tourism concepts in the past, including locations in Heilongjiang, Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces. Most of these have failed however, due to Chinese society’s discomfort with the concept of nudism.
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