Six Danish men were spotted urinating on a highway in Shanghai late last month. After a passerby snapped a picture of the peeing sextet and posted it to the Chinese Twitter-like site Sina Weibo, outrage spread across the Chinese blogosphere. Many suggested that the urinating Danes should have their visas cancelled, while more sympathetic souls said that Shanghai should provide more public toilets and outfit tour buses with a place for travellers to relieve themselves.
With the help of surveillance cameras, the police tracked down the bus driver who said that the men were Danish tourists who had just been to the Shanghai International Circuit, a motorsport track and the home of the Chinese Grand Prix. There, they allegedly had expanded their bladders with copious amounts of beer. The driver claims that the men forced him to pull over so that they could answer nature's call. The offending action took place on a busy overpass in Shanghai, China's most populated city.
“They even tried to grab the steering wheel and could have caused a traffic accident,” the bus driver told South China Morning Post.
The police are now considering whether to punish the men or not.
The incident is not the first time Danish tourists have caused a scene this year. In February, upper-secondary school students trashed hotel rooms and had violent fights, two of which included stabbings. The Chinese peeing episode also comes just a month after Danish female gymnasts caused a stir in Rio de Janeiro by exposing their Nordic breasts to the Brazilian sun.
NOTE: This story was updated on April 3 at 10:05am to indicate that the Danish tourists were at a racetrack, but were not watching a Formula One race. The Chinese Grand Prix takes place April 12-14.
