On August 13th, the Wudangzhao Educational Management Committee in Inner Mongolia issued a “Official Statement on Scenic Area Shop Products and False Claims of Appellation”.
The statement states that recently, some online platforms have bloggers posting videos claiming that the ticket sales hall at Wudangzhao Scenic Area sells products such as Ultraman, and fabricating and spreading false information about these products being magical properties of Wudangzhao, which has caused some netizens to misunderstand. In order to clarify the facts, regulate rights and responsibilities, and prevent false dissemination, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Religious Affairs Regulations" and the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China," our temple hereby makes the following official statement:
1. The commercial operations and product sales related to the Wudangzhao scenic area are solely responsible for by Inner Mongolia Wudangzhao Culture and Tourism Investment Co., Ltd. All souvenirs, cultural products, handicrafts, ritual items, and various other goods sold in the scenic area’s ticket hall are purely commercial activities conducted under the company’s own initiative, including site selection, marketing efforts, pricing, and operations. Our temple has never authorized or permitted any of the company’s merchants to conduct any sales activities, religious ceremonies, or blessings in the name of Wudangzhao Temple. We have never carried out any religious rituals such as blessing or praying for well-being for any of the goods sold in the scenic area’s shops (including products related to Ultraman). Any claims that “the scenic area sells goods with blessings from Wudangzhao” are false and misleading information.
II. Our temple strictly adheres to national religious laws and regulations, as well as forest regulations. It is strictly prohibited for any monks or staff of our temple to engage in any commercial profit-making activities under the pretext of consecration, prayer, or blessing. At the same time, our temple has never authorized or entrusted any external enterprises, merchants, or individuals to conduct commercial promotional activities related to consecration, religious certification, or religious endorsement on behalf of Wudangzhao. Any religious-related commercial commitments made by external entities in the name of our temple have nothing to do with our temple and do not represent our temple’s position.
III. In accordance with the legal principles of consistency between rights and responsibilities, and accountability for faults, all consumer disputes, civil liabilities, and public opinion responsibilities arising from the autonomous business operations of the scenic area operation company and its affiliated merchants, as well as false advertising activities, shall be borne solely by the operators themselves.
My temple and the commercial operators of the scenic area are independent entities with their own rights and responsibilities. We only share the names of the place names and the scenic area, and we do not participate in their commercial profits, interfere with their daily operations, or provide any guarantees for their business activities. Any commercial promotion or transaction activities that are not authorized by our temple in writing shall not be held responsible for by our temple according to the law.
IV. In relation to these false rumors and the irregular management of the scenic area, our temple has officially informed the scenic area’s operating company and ordered them to make immediate corrections: completely remove non-compliant products, delete all propaganda statements that use religious names, and post a signboard in a prominent position in the ticket hall stating “Commercial operations have nothing to do with the temple”.
At the same time, our temple reserves the right to pursue legal responsibilities against those who spread malicious rumors, false information, or engage in false marketing under the guise of our temple's name. We ask all tourists and believers to carefully discern online information and commercial promotions in scenic areas. If you encounter false promotion or consumer rights violations, please directly report the issue to the market supervision department or the business entity of the scenic area for assistance in protecting your rights.
Wudangzhao is located in Shigua District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia. It was built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit and a 4A-level tourist attraction. It is also the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Inner Mongolia. Wudangzhao is considered one of the four famous Tibetan Buddhist temples in China, along with the Potala Palace in Tibet, the Taljieshe in Qinghai, and the Labrang Monastery in Gansu. The temple is built against a mountain, with white Tibetan-style architecture arranged in layers. It preserves a large number of precious cultural relics such as Buddha statues, murals, thangkas, and scriptures.
