China's Popular Landmarks Enforce 60-Second Photo Rule for Tourists

Some of China’s most popular tourist landmarks are now employing attendants with timers to ensure each visitor has only one minute to take photographs.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, some tourist sites have imposed the 60-second time limit for taking photos and selfies to address the increasingly frustration by visitors about long lines for pictures at popular holiday attractions.

The Huangling Scenery Zone in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi province, enforced the one-minute photo rule last month, according to the news outlet.

The Huangling Scenery Zone was forced to introduce a 60-second limit after reports of visitors clashing over photo spots went viral. Some tourists had previously occupied prime locations for up to 30 minutes while staging elaborate individual or group shots.

Workers at Huangling Scenery Zone now hold a timer near a major attraction, allowing each tourist one minute for photography. Once a tourist’s time is up, the workers politely tell them to step aside for the next visitor to take a photo.

Regarded as one of the prettiest ancient villages in China, the Huangling Scenery Zone has recently gained social media fame for its breathtaking, picture-perfect views. Tourists are particularly eager to take selfies on the village’s rooftops, where colorful autumn harvests are dried.

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“If there are few tourists, we do not enforce this time limit. However, due to its popularity, we often have many people waiting for photos, necessitating this measure to maintain order,” an anonymous manager at Huangling Scenery Zone tells the South China Morning Post.

Other attractions in China have adopted similar measures for photo-seeking tourists — with some imposing even stricter limits. At Longzhuashan Park near Yantai in Shandong province, visitors at the popular “Black Mountain Eye” viewing platform are now being restricted to just 30 seconds for photos by staff.

“Considering the needs of the majority of tourists, we created this rule so that no one misses the chance to capture these breathtaking natural landscapes,” Longzhuashan Park manager Zhang Guo’in says about the 30-second photo rule.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.