One of life’s simple pleasures is going to the park. I mean, parks are just big, green spaces for people to enjoy. That’s what they’re there for. You go, sit on a bench, look at the sky, roll around on the grass… whatever, it’s a park, it’s fun! However, Yantai Park in the eastern Chinese province of Shangdong isn’t a fun park, because there all the benches rent by the hour and if you don’t pay, you get a prod in the fanny.
The officials in charge of Yantai Park were worried about people loitering in the park, so they took a cue from an art exhibit. In the exhibit, artist Fabian Brunsing (who was protesting the commercialization of modern life) put a set of coin-operated spikes on a park bench. When your time runs out, the spikes come up and make the bench uncomfortable. The spikes aren’t dangerous, just not fun to sit on.
Unfortunately for the locals of Shangdong, officials took this satire and turned it into reality. Officials say their plan is one necessary due to overcrowding at the park. “We have to make sure the facilities are shared out evenly and this seems like a fair way to stop people grabbing a bench at dawn and staying there all day,” said one park official.
Tags: Yantai Park, Shangdong, China, unusual benches, spiked bench, parking meter bench, bench that requires payment for sitting, uncomfortable benches, bench with spikes, rental bench, Fabian Brunsing
