Hong Kong's most infamous tour guide Li Hau-chun broke down in tears yesterday as she apologized for bringing the tourist trade into disrepute with a seven- minute rant at a group of mainland tourists that was secretly filmed and went viral on the internet and TV.Li, who moved from Hubei to Hong Kong about a decade ago and who has been a tour guide for seven years, admitted she lost control after one tourist used rude words on a shopping stop. "I was really furious and could not control my emotions," she said.
Nicknamed Ah Zhen after the shocking incident, she was filmed in March berating the group of Anhui visitors for failing to spend enough money and threatening to lock them out of their rooms.
More than a dozen mainland television stations picked up the video after it was posted online and went viral on the internet.
Swamped by more than 50 newsmen, Li, a divorcee in her late 30s with a 17-year-old daughter, said yesterday: "I am sorry and I hope that the Hong Kong people and our mainland compatriots will forgive my error."
Accompanied by tourism-sector lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun, Li added: "Perhaps this incident may have left people with a wrong impression of our tourism industry. I am very sorry.
"I hope that after this incident, all will understand that each industry has its own difficulties and we should have mutual understanding."
The beleaguered freelance tour guide, who worked for Golden Win International Travel Services, said she has no basic sal
ary but receives a HK$50 tip from each tourist for the two-day service.She said she also earns commissions if the visitors shop at designated stores, but declined to say how much.
Li said zero or low-fare tours are a structural problem and this is out of her control.
She wants to continue her job, and pledged to serve her clients sincerely in future.
In the seven-minute clip, she was filmed calling a group of Anhui visitors cheapskates and threatening to lock them out of their hotel rooms because they did not spend much at a jewelry store.
She said she has stayed with a friend in Shenzhen over the past week as she was "afraid" of the press.
Her outburst was in response to two or three travelers who complained about the itinerary, which included a full day of shopping, even though all the tourists had signed an agreement to do so on the first day of their two-day stay.
"They did not shop much [at that store]. Perhaps the clients themselves also realized that they did not shop much and may have had a guilty conscience," Li said.
"So after I went aboard the coach, he [one of the clients] used sharp language at me."
She said that with a trip fee of 610 yuan (HK$698), the travelers should have known from the start they had to shop.
"But as they did not shop [enough], they were afraid that maybe I would do something against them," she said.
Li rejected the claim of a traveler, surnamed Wang, who said the tourists spent more than HK$400,000 shopping during the stay, though she could not remember exactly how much they spent.
Wang hit back at Li last night, claiming her version of events was untrue. "None of us agitated her by saying something rude." Li said that at the jewelry shop, the 26 on her coach spent about HK$13,000 in total.
Li said she has never forced travelers to shop but each is expected to spend at least HK$3,000 shopping.
Golden Win general manager Benny Chau insisted his firm does not force tourists to shop.
