Ding Jinhao engraving scandal


The Ding Jinhao Vandalism scandal was a 2013 scandal revolving around Ding Jinhao, a then 15-year-old Chinese boy who scratched the Chinese characters "Ding Jinhao was here" on an engraving at the Luxor Temple in Egypt.

Media response

On May 24, 2013, a verified Weibo user, Mr. Shen, posted a picture of the vandalised engraving with the letters "Ding Jinhao was here" etched in Chinese at the Luxor Temple in Luxor, Egypt. By the next day, the post had 11,000 comments and 83,000 reposts.
On May 25, 2013, a Chinese netizen unearthed personal information pertaining to Ding Jinhao through the Human flesh search engine and posted it to Weibo. On the same day, the Modern Express reported that Ding's parents publicly apologized on Weibo, and that Ding Jinhao was in tears over the incident.
On May 26, the website of Ding's elementary school was hacked by vigilante netizens and defaced with a pop-up window on the website mimicking Ding Jinhao's vandalism. Ding Jinhao's engraving at the temple site was removed on the same day.

Government response

According to the Egyptian Protection of cultural relics law, the posting of advertisements and posters at the heritage, writing, engraving, or smudging of cultural relics at heritage sites is prohibited and punishable by a jail term of three months up to a year in prison, and fine of 100 to 500 Egyptian pounds.