China News Service, Beijing, September 1 (Reporter Liu Yue) "How did the beautiful blue sea and silver beach become a garbage dump?"
Recently, Hainan outdoor video blogger "Hua Zailiang" and his children were picking up garbage at the Fourth Bay Beach of Wanning Shenzhou Peninsula when they saw a shocking scene: a large number of rusted iron frames, foam boards and plastic garbage scattered between the beach and the forest behind. These leftover wastes point to an island variety show that will be broadcast in 2024.
It has been more than two years since the show was completed, but why has garbage been left on the beach for so long, turning the beautiful coastline into a dirty garbage beach? In response to this, the program team quickly responded, but the statement of "handing over to the villagers" still aroused public controversy over the "leaving after filming and destroying the ecology" of variety show filming.
In just five days, two tons of garbage were cleaned up
"Can you believe it? This beach, which was supposed to be isolated from the world with blue sea and white sand, is now full of garbage."
In the video released by "Hua Zailiang", a large number of shooting props, abandoned iron frames, and water equipment were randomly abandoned. The desolate and dilapidated scene formed a dazzling contrast with the clear blue sea in the lens.
In the video, the remains of tents, inflatable mattresses, and built platforms are scattered everywhere, and domestic garbage such as cigarette butts, drink bottles, instant noodle boxes, and foam boxes are scattered all over the beach and forest. He expressed concern that the abandoned iron frames would pollute the beach and marine ecology after being corroded for many years; the white garbage would be buried in the sand and would not be able to corrode or degrade for hundreds of years.
"Hua Zailiang" also said that this approximately two-kilometer-long beach is blocked by traffic and has no access to major roads. It can only be reached by water or by hiking several kilometers of mountain roads. In just five days, the family cleared out about two tons of garbage. He lamented: "The scenery can be taken away by the camera, but responsibility should not be left at the beach."
As the video spread, netizens traced the origins of iconic props such as the "Water Coin Logo" and "Water Bike" to the variety show "This is My Island". This program is an island exploration and growth show launched by Youku in 2024. All members of the Times Youth League (Ma Jiaqi, Ding Chengxin, Song Yaxuan, Liu Yaowen, Zhang Zhenyuan, Yan Haoxiang, He Junlin), Yang Di, Ou Hao, Cai Guoqing and other artists participated in the recording.
A variety show that focused on getting close to the island and exploring nature eventually exposed the issue of garbage left on the beach, and netizens were immediately filled with indignation.
On the evening of August 30, the Wanning Municipal People's Government issued an official notice confirming that the online reports of accumulation of garbage on the beach and rusted props were objectively true. The local area immediately organized personnel to clean up the entire beach, and all the garbage involved has now been disposed of. The report stated that in the next step, the local government will draw inferences from one example, regularly manage coastal environmental sanitation, and protect the coastline ecology. It also thanks volunteers, media and netizens for their supervision.
Late at night on the same day, the program team involved also issued a detailed response. The program team said that after the program was completed on March 28, 2024, it was connected to the local property the next day, leaving the staff to spend a week to complete the collection, bagging, transfer and removal of domestic waste. During the props dismantling stage, some local villagers expressed their wish to keep some of the props. After multi-party negotiation, the program team handed over a small number of remaining props to the villagers, and agreed that the responsibility for subsequent management and disposal of the items would be borne by the recipient. On April 8, the team completed all finishing work and evacuated. Relevant communication records and on-site images after cleaning can be used as evidence.
Faced with the responses from all parties, netizens had different opinions. On the one hand, there is the reality of the waste left on the beach, and on the other hand, the program team has already completed the cleanup. The gap in information between the two parties has also brought the issue of environmental aftermath after the outdoor variety show shooting to the public's eyes again.
Use nature as a scenery, but also protect nature
Why do variety shows repeatedly "add chaos" to nature? The root cause is the short-sighted thinking of some practitioners pursuing profit.
Looking back on the past, in 2020, the clip of guests picking "snowdrops" in "Extreme Challenge Treasure Tour" aroused public opinion. During the program, guests went to the plateau to pick snow lotus. Many netizens pointed out that the "snow lotus" they picked was actually the national second-level rare plant jellyfish and snow rabbit, which was included in the "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (Draft for Comments)" at that time. The program team later stated that what the guests picked were only props and did not harm the rare plants.
Coincidentally, the variety show "Run" was accused of "illegal fireworks". In the program broadcast in January 2025, the program team set off fireworks at the Shika Snow Mountain Observation Deck in Diqing, Yunnan. The scenic spot responded afterwards that the program team did not go through any approval procedures with the scenic spot for setting off fireworks. The Shika Snow Mountain has an altitude of 4,449 meters. The alpine ecology is very fragile and the recovery period is long. A fireworks show without assessment, plan, or report puts the high-altitude ecology at great risk.
In 2015, the animal reality show "Amazing Friends" invited celebrities to interact closely with wild animals such as chimpanzees, orangutans, and elephants. Because of dressing animals, anthropomorphizing wild animals as pets, and violating the nature of wild animals, many international animal protection organizations have successively issued protests and called for the program to be suspended.
From garbage left behind on islands and beaches, to fireworks being set off without approval in snow-capped mountains, to wild animals being used as entertainment props, outdoor variety shows "disturbing nature" come in many forms, but the root cause is the same - a lack of awe.
Under the traffic logic of variety show creation, some teams focus more on chasing popular traffic, but ignore the aftermath details outside of filming. In the preparatory stage of filming, no detailed ecological protection and site restoration plan was formulated based on special scenes such as the wild and the island; in the closing and handover process, the process was a formality and the division of responsibilities was vague. Props were simply handed over and the departure process was hastily completed, but no follow-up, review and acceptance work was done. It is precisely because of this extensive disposal method that the contradictory situation emerged where "the program team thought they had cleaned up, but a large amount of garbage was left on site."
To eat nature’s food, you must naturally serve nature’s bowl well. An outdoor variety show that focuses on exploring nature and getting close to mountains and seas should become a carrier to spread the concept of ecological protection and fulfill the responsibility of protecting nature. There should be no inconsistency between words and deeds. The beauty of clear water and green mountains is depicted in the camera, but the bottom line of protecting the environment should be maintained outside the camera.
Taking nature as a scenery, we must also protect nature. No variety show or entertainment shoot has the privilege of consuming nature and destroying the ecology. We hope that this beach garbage incident will sound a wake-up call for the industry, allowing all producers to completely abandon the mentality of taking chances, stick to the bottom line of creation and ecological protection, and make "scenery without traces and filming in a controlled manner" become the industry standard for outdoor variety shows.
