Recently, a man in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality jumped into the local Fenghuang Temple's wishing pool and tried to pick up some coins but was trapped in the pool, eventually being rescued after the monks called the police. The incident triggered a lively discussion among Chinese netizens.

On March 21, the local police station in Chongqing received a call from a monk of the Fenghuang Temple's, saying that through the temple's surveillance video, he saw a person in the wishing pool, sneaking around in a very suspicious manner.

In a video circulated on Sina Weibo, the middle-aged man squatting in the wishing pool looked panicked after seeing the police. He told the police he "just came down to look.'' The police subsequently inquired that the man surnamed Chen had been living on odd jobs for a long time and had recently failed to find a suitable job, then got the idea to pick up the wishing pool coins.

The incident has caused controversy among Chinese netizens. Some netizens said that the coins in the wishing pool can be used to help the needy, but more netizens think that Chen's behavior not only "stole the wishes of the people," but more importantly, destroyed public order.

The police helped Chen out of the pool but didn't charge him of a crime since the number of coins he took was too small and the monks didn't intend to further pursue the case. Chen left in embarrassment after apologizing to the monks.