Staged China rural scenes go viral, tourists pay US$40 to film them

A wizened farmer leads a buffalo through a misty copse of gnarled trees in eastern China, closely followed by a woman in a straw hat heaving pails of water.It is a tranquil image of rural Chinese life – except for the overhead whirr of a drone, the hiss of a smoke machine and the excited chatter of smartphone-wielding day trippers. 02:08Buffaloes, straw hats and smoke machines: staged rural scenes create viral tourist spot in ChinaBuffaloes, straw hats and smoke machines: staged rural scenes create viral tourist spot in ChinaResidents in Xiapu county, Fujian province, have achieved viral online fame by staging picturesque country scenes and charging tourists up to 300 yuan (about US$40) to photograph them.By doing so, they indulge visitors’ nostalgia for a pastoral idyll that has been swept away by rampant urbanisation and industrial development – assuming it ever truly existed at all.A tourist takes a photo of a poster in Xiapu that has been widely circulated online. Photo: AFPOne visitor is Liang Liuling, 72, on holiday from the southwestern Guangxi region.

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