Recently, a netizen posted that when he drove to Everest Base Camp via the S515 Provincial Highway, staff from the Everest Scenic Area Management Department set up a traffic jam on the provincial road more than 20 kilometers away from the base camp, requiring tourists not to drive in by themselves, and that they had to spend 120 yuan to take a shuttle bus to reach the Everest Base Camp. The netizen believed that the scenic spot management department had violated his right of way and took the scenic spot to court.
The reporter checked the relevant tweets of the scenic spot and found that there is indeed a requirement that tourists must transfer to a bus to enter the scenic spot. On November 4, a staff member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Transportation Department stated that generally speaking, the behavior of setting up cards in scenic spots is illegal, but it is not clear whether it should be submitted separately for approval. A staff member of the Shigatse Culture and Tourism Bureau told reporters that the ownership of a section of S515 Provincial Highway in the Mount Everest Scenic Area is still unclear, and the Department of Transportation is advancing the matter.
Mr. Liu told reporters that on June 28 this year, he drove from Shigatse, Tibet, to the Mount Everest Base Camp. While passing near Quzong Village in Dingri County, he discovered that the staff of the Mount Everest Scenic Area had set up a traffic jam on the provincial highway S515. "That location is still dozens of kilometers away from Everest Base Camp. They told me that the road further inside is within the scenic area and required me to buy a round-trip ticket of 120 yuan and take a bus to Everest Base Camp."
Mr. Liu said that he consulted the Department of Transportation of the Tibet Autonomous Region and found that the S515 Provincial Highway is not an internal road in the Mount Everest Scenic Area. "After communicating with the leaders of the scenic area, they asked me to sign a self-driving exemption agreement before agreeing to let me go. After I drove a few kilometers further, I met the staff of the scenic area again. They drove me and forced me to stop on the road at an altitude of about 4,800 meters." Mr. Liu said that he chose to call the police at that time. , the police asked both parties to go to the police station for mediation. "The final result of the mediation was that the staff of the scenic spot followed the car and drove with me to the Everest base camp the next day." After leaving Shigatse, Mr. Liu called the 12345 complaint hotline to report the matter. "Later, the local cultural and tourism bureau replied to me that the matter had been resolved, but I saw on the Internet that there were still people who posted that they were stopped while driving to the Everest scenic spot and asked to take a bus."
According to the reply letter issued to Mr. Liu by the Dingri County Culture and Tourism Bureau and the Everest Border Police Station, the dispute between Mr. Liu and the staff of the Everest Scenic Area mainly belongs to differences in civil rights and tourism services. The police station has administratively filed the case on September 1. "Currently the local police have not given any results."
In August this year, Mr. Liu decided to formally sue the Everest Scenic Area to the court for compensation of 302 yuan. "I feel that they have violated my right of way. The amount of compensation is second, and the most important thing is to get an explanation."
The reporter called the staff at the transfer center of the Mount Everest Scenic Area as a tourist. The other party said that after self-driving tourists enter through the north gate of the Mount Everest Scenic Area, they need to transfer to a pure electric environmentally friendly bus, which travels about 47 kilometers and takes about an hour. The staff member said that this road leading to the Everest Base Camp is a provincial road, but it is also an internal road in the scenic area. Subsequently, the reporter called the Dingri County Culture and Tourism Bureau as a tourist, and the staff confirmed once again that you cannot drive into the Everest base camp by yourself, and you must transfer to an environmentally friendly bus and ride 40 to 50 kilometers to arrive.
The reporter found that in August 2023, the Dingri County Culture and Tourism Bureau and the Shigatse Everest Cultural Tourism Investment Development Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that in accordance with the work requirements of Tingri County to create a famous tourist county and to achieve the goals of standardization, standardization and safe operation of the Mount Everest scenic spot, in order to ensure In order to improve the road traffic safety of tourists in the Mount Everest Scenic Area and facilitate the unified management of the Mount Everest Scenic Area, starting from August 23, 2023, the environmental protection fee for vehicles entering the Mount Everest Reserve will be canceled (320 yuan/car for vehicles with 14 seats or less, 480 yuan/car for vehicles with 14 seats or more).
Cycling and hiking enthusiasts, scenic area work vehicles, Rongbuk Temple work vehicles, law enforcement vehicles, funeral vehicles, emergency rescue vehicles, medical ambulances, scenic tent operators’ material support vehicles and other related special vehicles and special business vehicles do not need to transfer to scenic tourist vehicles after being reported and approved. In addition to the above-mentioned vehicles, passengers from other vehicles (including self-driving new energy vehicles) must transfer to scenic tourist buses.
The reporter also noticed that on May 1 this year, the Dingri County Culture and Tourism Bureau and the Shigatse Everest Cultural Tourism Investment Development Co., Ltd. jointly issued a "Notice to Tourists and Friends." The notice stated that in order to ensure the normal operation of the Mount Everest Scenic Area, protect the ecological environment of Mount Everest, and maintain the order of tourism, in accordance with the arrangements and deployment of the county party committee and county government and the actual work needs of the Mount Everest Scenic Area, the Mount Everest Scenic Area has established official sites such as the North Gate of the Scenic Area, the East Gate of the Scenic Area, the West Gate of the Scenic Area, Tashizong Ticket Validation Station, Longjiang Card Point, Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Transfer Center, and Quzong Ticket Validation Station. After arriving in Dingri County, tourists can choose three routes to enter the scenic spot. They will eventually need to transfer to a pure electric sightseeing vehicle through the environmentally friendly vehicle transfer center to go to the Everest Base Camp.
The reporter called the Transportation Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the staff said that it was definitely illegal for the Everest Scenic Area to set up a card on the S515 Provincial Highway to require self-driving tourists to transfer to a bus. Staff of the Tibet Autonomous Region Highway Development Center said that the S515 provincial highway is indeed under their management, but they only have the right to maintain the provincial highway and have no law enforcement power.
Local culture and tourism department: The ownership of some road sections in the scenic area is still unclear
This section of the provincial road is planned to be an internal road. Has the Everest Scenic Area reported to the relevant departments for approval? Staff at the Mount Everest Scenic Area Transfer Center and the Tibet Autonomous Region Transportation Department expressed uncertainty. A staff member of the Highway Development Center of the Tibet Autonomous Region said that the road block transfer was set up by the local Culture and Tourism Bureau. Provincial roads classified as roads within scenic spots must be approved for approval. It is not clear whether the local approval has been submitted. Staff from the Dingri County Culture and Tourism Bureau also said they were unclear about the matter and asked to contact the person in charge of the scenic spot.
The reporter asked the person in charge of the Mount Everest scenic spot as a tourist. He said that if you want to enter the Everest base camp without taking an environmentally friendly bus, you can only hike and bike, which is about 43 kilometers away. He also said that this section of the road belongs to the S515 provincial road and "will soon be an internal road in our scenic area."
The person in charge also said that this section of road retains the right to drive as a provincial highway. "Local residents can drive through this section of road to go home, transit, or emergency and urgently needed vehicles. However, tourists going to the core area of the Mount Everest Nature Reserve are not allowed to drive through." As for whether to put a card on this section of the provincial road and classify it as an internal road in the scenic spot, the person in charge has not been able to give a positive response to the relevant departments. After the reporter identified himself, he asked and then hung up the phone.
Staff from the Shigatse Culture and Tourism Bureau told reporters that the S515 Provincial Highway was a rural road for local people to carry out production activities before 2016. It was built locally in Dingri County. In 2016, the road was upgraded and named S515 Provincial Highway. "The reason why self-driving cars are not allowed to enter the Mount Everest scenic area is because of two considerations. One is the issue of ecological environment protection, and the other is the safety of drivers driving in high-altitude areas."
The staff member said that the establishment of a bus transfer point on the S515 Provincial Highway in the Everest Scenic Area was permitted by the Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission. "Now the nature of several sections of this S515 Provincial Road is not clearly defined. The section to the Everest Base Camp was indeed built by Dingri County itself. It is clear It will be used as an internal road in the scenic area, but the nature of the S515 provincial road within the scenic area has not been finalized. The Autonomous Region Transportation Department is also making every effort to promote this matter. If it is determined that it will not be included in the scenic area, the location of the ticket sales and transfer points in the scenic area will also be adjusted."
-Lawyer interpretation
Scenic area management must be legally authorized
Traffic order on public roads should take priority
Liu Kai, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, said that the key to the legal dispute in this incident is not whether the scenic spot can implement transportation transfers, but whether the scenic spot has the right to set up checkpoints on provincial roads to restrict tourists from driving by themselves and force tourists to purchase a 120 yuan shuttle bus service.
Legally speaking, the nature of this stretch of road must first be clarified. If it is indeed a provincial road recognized in accordance with the law and a public road that social vehicles can pass according to law, the scenic spot operating company cannot set up checkpoints, intercept vehicles or force tolls solely based on the needs of scenic spot management. The management rights of scenic spots cannot override the traffic order of public roads.
Of course, for the purposes of ecological protection, tourist safety, etc., scenic spots must have legal road management authority and corresponding approval basis to manage the transportation methods entering the core area.
As for the self-driving exemption commitment signed by tourists, it does not mean that the scenic spot’s practices are certainly legal. Signing by tourists when they are intercepted and unable to continue passage does not mean that they voluntarily give up their right of passage on public roads, nor can they exempt the scenic spot from its legal responsibilities through a letter of commitment.
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Xu Shaoda
