The CS Cosplay base set up close to the ruins of the Sichuan earthquake.

A 17-acre CS Cosplay base set up close to the ruins of the Sichuan earthquake has generated public anger.

CS is an abbreviation of Counter-Strike, a tactical first-person shooter online video game. As its popularity grows among the young, many businessmen have started to look for an opportunity to play the virtual game in a real-life setting.

The ruins of the earthquake, with rubble, dirt and collapsed buildings everywhere, serve as a perfect site for CS Cosplay, a fact that is emphasized by Dai Jun, the project manager of the CS Cosplay site. But the establishment of the CS Cosplay base among the ruins of the earthquake has generated a spate of public protest by people who are angered by the apparent disrespect for the deceased.

Most of the dissenters consider it profoundly offensive to the dead and the bereaved to build any public entertainment facility like the CS Cosplay site in the ruins of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake.

"Fun parks are fine, but it's just not proper to have one located in a place of mourning." said one post. "What if an amusement arcade was built on the site of the 911 attack?"

In response to this criticism, Dai Jun claimed that the bereaved will find consolation in the reconstruction of tourist attractions, rather than in prayers alone. "How to restore the local tourist market and benefit the local villagers should be at the top of the agenda," he said.

(China.org.cn by Zheng Xin February 18, 2009)