A tourist village in China known for its snowy landscapes has apologised for using cotton wool and soapy water to make fake snow during unexpected warmer weather.
Chengdu, the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan, experienced unusually warm weather during the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January, meaning snow did not form as tourists may have hoped in its snow village.
The Chengdu Snow Village project attempted to replicate its typical winters with the artificial snow, posting photos on social media which tourists called misleading.
Photos online showed large cotton wool sheets strewn about the grounds and on top of houses, but the village did not disclose it wasn’t real snow – though many on social media noticed it.
“A snow village without snow,” said one user.
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In a statement on the Chinese social media app Wechat, the village said it “deeply apologises” and offered visitors a refund.
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“In order to create a ‘snowy’ atmosphere the tourist village purchased cotton for the snow…but it did not achieve the expected effect, leaving a very bad impression on tourists who came to visit,” the Chengdu Snow Village project said in the statement.
The tourist area is believed to have now been cleared of the synthetic snow.
China is facing hotter and longer heat waves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain as a result of climate change, the country’s weather bureau has warned.
