Chinese Olympic diving star’s hometown flooded with unwelcome tourists looking for weight

• Diving star Quan Hongchan’s family and neighbors are harassed by thousands of tourists after his gold medal.
• Local media report that unwanted visitors are invading Quan Village against her family’s wishes.
• Village authorities have since closed the area to all visitors, local media said.

Chinese teenager Quan Hongchan’s perfect victory for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has turned her into a global sensation, but the 14-year-old’s celebrity status is now drawing thousands of unwanted tourists to her small hometown.

Tourists and internet celebrities seeking social media influence flocked to his village of Maihe in Guangdong province to take photos and broadcast live streams, China Discipline Inspection and Supervision reported. News. According to state media, the village received up to 2,000 visitors a day, who allegedly hung out and made noise late at night against the wishes of Quan’s family and neighbors.

Elderly people in the village were unable to sleep for two consecutive days due to the chaos, according to the report. He added that some people even tried to pick a jackfruit outside Quan’s house. Videos and photos on China’s social media platform Weibo show tourists crowding around homes in the village, drawing criticism from people in the comments.

Fan Quan Biao Mei / Weibo

Village authorities have had enough and have since closed the area to visitors, local media said.

Quan’s fame as a young Olympic gold medalist was further amplified by her humble origins. Born in a little-known rural village, she says she started professional diving to pay medical bills for her ailing mother, who was injured in a car crash in 2017.