Superficial ‘check-in tourism’ focused on garnering likes on social media is adversely affecting the lives of locals and the facilities they use
3-MIN READ3-MINPhoebe ZhangPhoebe Zhang is a senior reporter with the South China Morning Post. Published: 5:30am, 18 Jun 2026Nobody knew how the tree grew popular online, but for about two months, villagers near Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, found drones flying over their wheat fields.
It was the only tree in hundreds of acres of wheat field. The tourists called it the “lonely tree” and said that after seeing it, “you didn’t need to go far to be healed”.
Nobody had paid much attention to the tree in the past. It offered a resting place for farmers and its leaves fed livestock. After it went viral, some incorrectly claimed the tree had been featured in the television series White Deer Plain. Motorcycles came, drones flew in, tents were set up, people touched, danced near and hugged the tree. Most stepped into the wheat fields to get close to it, treading a 25-metre-long path.
In the end, the farmer couldn’t take it any more. She grabbed a ladder and chopped down most of the branches. She had never understood the fervour over her fields; to her, they simply provided food.
