Forget those reckless drivers who mow down pedestrians whilst chatting on the phone, it’s boatmen we’ve got to worry about this time.

On July 29 at around 9:25, a Hangzhou boatman surnamed Meng crash his boat into an ancient pagoda in the city’s West Lake, causing it to fall into the water. It was reported that Meng was using his phone to check the news before he realized it was too late.

The 2m high structure, which forms one of the “Three Pools Mirroring the Moon” attractions (look at the back of any 1 RMB note) has iconic status in China.

No one was hurt in the accident, and the pagoda was salvaged from the bottom of the lake and fortunately wasn’t cracked. One local newspaper actually defended Meng by stating that leisure boat operators in Hangzhou were having a tough time due to having to work long hours ferrying tourists around the lake: “Driving a boat is hard and stressful. One may want to play with the phone to relax,” which makes everything totally ok, apparently.

Despite this, Meng could face charges for his part in the knocking over of cultural relics. These particular pagodas have been around since 1621.

Source: Sina

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Keywords: Hangzhou boatman Three Pools Mirroring the Moon