One basic rule in nature tripping: take nothing but pictures.
An unnamed local tourist took delight in the stones scattered in a beach in Sanxiantai located in a coastal town in Taiwan and took home a lot only to return them 10 years after.
The East Coast National Scenic Area Headquarters got a surprise package from a stranger containing the said stones plus a letter and some cash. The stranger apologized in the letter and referred to the action as a “mistake” after learning that a law prohibits people from taking the stones at Sanxiantai.
The stranger, who lives in Puzi City in Chiayi County, said that the stones were taken because they were beautiful. The letter also revealed that being busy at work prevented the sender to personally return them.
Cash amounting to NT$600 was included, perhaps as an earnest expression of apology or to somewhat cover for the cost of transporting the stones back to where they truly belong. The letter sender also requested people not to do the same thing.
Lee Wei-ling, the deputy director of the East Coast National Scenic Area Headquarters, said that more than 900,000 tourists visit Sanxiantai every year.
Sanxiantai or Terrace of the Three Immortals is a natural tourist attraction found in Chenggong Township, Taitung County. It has a man-made attraction in the form of a 320-meter-long footbridge, referred to by some as Dragon Bridge, which appears like eight arched bridges connected to each other.
The three massive rocks found on the beach represent the footprints left by the immortals Lu Dongbin, He Xiangu and Zhongli Quan aka Iron-Crutch Li. These three, who are honored by Taoists, are among the Eight Immortals in Chinese mythology.
If all those annual tourists numbering to almost a million will each take some stones from Sanxiantai, that will pose a serious problem.