How an ostensibly innocent selfie can leave destruction in its wake may seem unthinkable if not absurd to some, but it is what it is when it came to a group of Chinese tourists who destroyed a field of rare pink grass, due to their incessant selfie mania

The tourists were in the riverside park of Binjiang in Hangzhou city, China where the field of pink grass flowers can be found.

The beautiful sight seemed to have compelled the selfie-manic tourists to snap a picture despite the rope barriers present, as they were found trespassing the area.

Thepaper.cn via South China Morning Post on Oct. 15 reported that tourists also entered the 10-acre area (over 4,400 square metres) of grass to take photos, destroying it in the process as they stomped and walked about.

The grassland was planted with pink grass seeds in 2016, when Hangzhou hosted the G20 summit, China Daily reported.

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One tourist even came at midnight, spotlight in hand and all, just to take a selfie by the pink field.



Photo: China Daily/Asia News Network

Zhang, the caretaker, shared in the report that it took her three years to tend to the pink muhly grass, which was even imported from Australia. Her voice, it was discovered, had turned hoarse after excessively shouting at erring, hard-headed tourists.

"The seeds were imported from Australia, and I've been caring for the growth of this grass, but I never imagined they'd get demolished in just two to three days," Zheng told China Daily, tears welling in his eyes.

"To me, they are like my son and daughter. It's like witnessing my sons being beaten by barbarians, but I can do nothing to help."

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Many have since expressed their dismay and fury towards the tourists, with netizens feeling for the caretaker who were only doing their job.

Meanwhile, as more tourists arrived over the weekend, Zhang said she had no choice but to cut down the pink grass in an attempt to protect it and ensure it blooms again by the following year. Now, the pink grass is no more.

Hangzhou is not the only place in China that has witnessed such uncivilized behavior.

In Foshan, in southern China's Guangdong province, a garden featuring pink grass was forced to limit the number of tourists admitted to the area, the local Guangzhou Daily reported on Tuesday.