People gather on a square performing a traditional umbrella dance to celebrate the Water Splashing Festival, also the New Year of the Dai ethnic group, in Jinghong City, Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, southwest China's Yunnan Province, April 14, 2013. (Xinhua/Qin Qing)

 
Local officials in Yunnan reiterated regulations after reopened water-splashing celebrating activities in Southwest China's Yunnan, which was supposed to be a grand and happy gathering after three years suspension due to the strict COVID-19 epidemic management measures, encountered unexpected controversy because of an uncivilized behavior during the holiday in Dehong. A viral video clip showed a woman being "mobbed" at the festival with water guns, with some even ripping her raincoat.

The victimized woman later told local media that she panicked as the water hit her and people were pulling her around, which caused pain. "I was angry and very broken." 

"Tearing someone's clothes is bad," said the woman. "People may think it is fun, but it's still important to consider other people's privacy."

She wasn't the only woman to leave the water festival disappointed. Another video clip shows two girls on battery-powered bikes being stopped and splashed with water repeatedly. The two appear to be in a mess while they lose control of their bikes and fall.

In response to the incident, a staff member at the Jinghong City Culture and Tourism Bureau responded that the local authority also issued an initiative calling for a "civilized water-splashing festival," but there may be isolated cases of uncivilized behaviors among the large crowds at various scenic spots."

"Tourists who encounter similar situations can report to police officers on site," said the employee.

A Dehong local surnamed He told the Global Times on Sunday he was "very sorry and disappointed" that several women were harassed at the water-splashing festival. As a local who had participated in the festival many times, he has "rarely seen such vulgar behavior."

In response to some netizens' comments defending the behavior, He said there is no such a thing as "more water splashing means more blessings" in Dehong. However, he also explained that the residents and tourists who participate in the water-splashing festival are often excited that they end up splashing too much water on others.

"Since the water-splashing event was called off in the past three years due to the COVID-19 epidemic, people's suppressed enthusiasm exploded," he said. "The chaos at the festival should also be related to the influx of many tourists into Dehong, as tourists are generally overly excited about the event and also may be less aware of the rules that some locals acquiesce to when participating in the event."

On the eve of the Water-Splashing Festival, many cities in Yunnan, including Xishuangbanna, Mangshi, Longchuan, have issued relevant regulations on civilized water-splashing, strictly prohibiting insulting and molesting women in the name of water-splashing. The regulations also ruled out the use of cars loaded with water, high-pressure water guns, water balloons, plastic bags holding water and other uncivilized and hurtful behaviors. Still, a few cases of uncivilized behaviors occurred during the festival. 

Avoiding uncivil behavior during grand festive celebrations can be a tricky issue. Some observers have also pointed out that uncivilized behaviors and even harassment of women at the Water Festival is not unique to Yunnan. Media reports revealed that many similar cases happened during Songkran, the water-splashing festival in Thailand, while survey showed that half of Thai women experienced sexual harassment during attending the festival. In 2016, a Thai government official had to tell women to "dress carefully" to prevent harassment at the Songkran festival, BBC reported. 

An employee at Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Culture and Tourism Bureau staff told local media that if a tourist encounters similar uncivilized water splashing behavior, it is public a security issue that should be reported to police. 

In view of the recent increase in the number of tourists, the flow of people, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism has arranged for relevant law enforcement officers in various scenic spots for inspection, the staff member said. 

Jinghong police also suggested that tourists should directly report to police for incidents of harassment.

Ye Huang, a scholar on the cultures of the Dai ethnic group in Ruili said that every year during the preparations of the Water-Splashing Festival, his institute would make suggestions to the departments concerned to promote civilized water-splashing. "But sometimes the people are just too excited to control themselves," Ye said. 

Ye noted that the tradition Dai water-splashing is not like a "water fight," but simply scooping water with hands and throwing on each other's shoulders to express blessings.

After the uncivilized behaviors are slammed by netizens and widely reported by the media, the bad habits existing in some local festivals are receiving more and more attention, He, the Dehong local, told the Global Times. "In next year's festival, there should be less such behaviors."