Hikers and a volunteer cleanup team (led by “左左” / Zuo Zuo of a Jiaxing hiking group) found large numbers of plastic bottles and cans deliberately strung together with rope (often red string) and discarded on mountain trails, slopes, roadsides, and even hung in trees. These were not typical scattered tourist litter—they were neatly bundled “props.” Locations included Daleishan (大雷山) near Taizhou, plus reports from Longwangshan (湖州), Shuanglonggu (温州), Shuitong’ao (台州), and others.
Got called out: “She’s the trash”
How the scam works
Influencers bring (or stage) bunches of empty plastic bottles, string them on rope, film themselves “heroically” picking them up or carrying them while hiking (for “do-gooder”/environmental content and engagement), then abandon the bundles after filming instead of removing them. Local village officials (e.g., in Xiao Jiachen village near Shuitong’ao) confirmed this has happened: bloggers mimic “公益打卡” (public-welfare check-in) videos, string bottles on backpacks or hands for the camera, then dump them. Some sites saw the same style of discarded bundles multiple times.
I didn’t make a big deal on social media at the time – but I spent a day of my holiday this year cleaning up an area up a stream that was full of trash – filled 4 trash bags until we were exhausted. So this faking is especially disgusting to me…
That felt great. Sure beats the gym!
So This scam contrasts with genuine volunteers (e.g., people like Chen Chen / “陈晨不喜欢下坡,” who has been documented stringing real collected bottles to carry them down the mountain and give them to villagers). She was briefly suspected due to similar imagery but denied involvement and noted she had left the area months earlier.
Primary exposure comes from videos and photos shared by the Jiaxing hiking/cleanup team (左左 and teammates) showing the rope-tied bottle strings in grass, on slopes, and hanging in trees at Daleishan and similar spots. Chinese news outlets (极目新闻 / Jimu News, 封面新闻, NetEase, etc.) published screenshots and descriptions of these; search Chinese platforms (Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu) for “大雷山 成串塑料瓶” or “摆拍丢弃塑料瓶串” for the original clips and images
News coverage includes stills of the discarded red-rope bottle strings mixed with cans and other debris (image). They were seen discarded after the influencer was done with their video. At least bring it to a trash can!
Older related cases exist and this piles on top of other fakery in the world of influencer scams: faking disability, faking poverty and hardships for pity views and donations.
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