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The sheer amount of sightseers, many with the habit of littering, compromised the cleaning efforts, despite shifts lasting up to 16 hours a day.
The management of the tourist spot has been broadcasting via loudspeakers announcements reminding tourists to dispose of their trash in designated areas.
The video was widely shared on Chinese social media, with netizens expressing shock at the situation.
"As a local, I really cannot bear this. The Caka Salt Lake, which has been known as 'the mirror of the sky' for years, is now a sewage ditch and has been polluted," a Weibo user who goes by the name @-Zst-dophinDaaijiege bemoaned.?
Screenshot of the video showing people walking on the pier with the floor covered in plastic bags and shoe covers.
Other netizens questioned how strict supervision efforts by the management of the park actually are and whether it has given proper guidance to tourists to protect the site.?
The scenic spot has placed a cap on the number of visitors every day, allowing a maximum of 50,000 people in, while offering shoe covers for a deposit of 100 yuan (around 15 US dollars).
"We offer environmentally-friendly shoe covers which are reusable. Tourists have to put on shoe covers if they are going to enter the lake. After finishing using, they need to return the shoe covers they have used and then get the 100-yuan deposit back," a member of the customer service team at the Caka Salt Lake told the daily.
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According to the park's management, the local government is also helping cracking down on hawkers who sell shoe covers harmful to the lake's water and will dispatch an additional 100 cleaners to help maintain the beauty of the site.
