Ferrari damages Chinese Wall, Chinese ticked!

Chinese citizens are up in arms after a Ferrari sports car left tyre tracks atop Nanjing’s ancient city wall, possibly permanently damaging the protected landmark.

China’s outspoken netizens heaped criticism on the Italian automaker after a domestic sales agent allowed the car to be driven on the centuries-old wall in a promotional event, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Who’s the dumbass?

The incident also highlights growing anger over a widening rich-poor divide in China, where brazen displays of extravagance and wealth are attracting more and more criticism.

A crane hoisted the car to the top of the wall and video of the event showed the blood-red Ferrari doing 360 degree turns, with cleaners trying in vain to scrub dark black tyre marks from the grey brick the following day.

The affected section near the eastern city’s Gate of China — a renowned ancient ceremonial gateway — dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and is said to be among the best preserved sections of the wall.

Xinhua said the car involved was a special edition Ferrari 458 Italia valued at six million yuan ($950,000), and the organizers of the event spent more than $12,000 to hold the ceremony at the site.

Ferrari apologized in a statement on its website on Tuesday, saying it respected Chinese culture and was working to resolve the problems caused by its distributor Kuaiyi Automobile.

The Nanjing government has also “reprimanded” the officials responsible as the event took place without higher authorisation, Xinhua said.

But it might be too late to reverse the impact, experts say.

Source AFP