Miracle water causes a frenzy
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E-mail China Daily, October 11, 2012
Li said the village has run out of water for daily use and has been forced to buy water at double the regular cost from neighboring villages. She said the tourists were taking the water 24 hours a day over several days.
In an attempt to disprove the rumor and stop people from visiting the site, local officials took a sample of spring water to the center for disease control and prevention in Wenling for testing.
According to the results of the test released on Tuesday, the spring water failed to even meet the standard for drinking water. The water contains excessive aerobic bacterial and coliform bacteria.
"We're trying to guide people with scientific knowledge and healthcare advice to prevent them from blindly following the trend," said Wang Huaqi, an office worker in the village.
Experts have suggested that the frequency of this type of incident, where people jump on a bandwagon following a rumor, could be prevented with more efforts from local governments to provide scientific information to the public.
"These incidents are mostly caused by people who lack the ability to distinguish the accuracy of the rumor, and society hasn't offered enough opportunities to these people to gain scientific knowledge," said Zhou Baohua, an associate professor and research fellow of the Center for Information and Communication Studies at Fudan University.
Zhou added that the "bandwagon effect" will change when the public realizes that blindly following a trend is not appropriate.
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Hundreds of people rush to get the so-called "miracle water" at Shicangxia village in Wenling city, Zhejiang province. [CRI Online] |
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