Chinese using fake documents for free entry to tourist sites

Beijing, Oct 6: Hundreds of Chinese tourists have been caught using fake military documents to obtain free tickets to historical sites and museums during the on going week long holidays to celebrate the National Day.

More than 200 counterfeit booklets containing certificates issued for use by soldiers, officers, army cadets as well as handicapped soldiers were confiscated on the first two days of the National Day holiday, which began on October 1, by People's Liberation Army personnel stationed outside the Terracotta Army Museum in Xian, Shaanxi province.

An adult ticket to the museum costs 150 yuan (USD 25). Others have been found using the bogus certificates to enter other tourist attractions as military staff can visit such places for free, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

According to official media reports, 415 million Chinese travelling to tourists sites have spend USD 50 billion in the first four days of the holidays.

The army officers outside the Terracotta Army Museum said they were able to identify bogus soldiers by asking them questions about things that were "common knowledge" in the military.

"Are you serving in the military," an army officer was filmed asking a woman with sunglasses. "Do you know what rank it is?" as the woman shook her head the officer told her, "I have to confiscate this certificate."

The tourists using the fake certificates were then told to pay for their tickets. The report said it was illegal for ordinary people to carry military documents. However, the television report said the people that were caught were not punished or questioned, merely told to pay for their tickets.

PTI