Tourist labelled 'poor ghost' for asking prices and not buying anything from shop in China

The woman's behavior left the jewellery shop owner unamused and the man called her "poor ghost" for leaving by merely asking the prices and not buying anything from the shop. (Representational Image).

A tourist in China was labelled a "poor ghost" by a shop owner after she entered a shop, asked for the price of a jewellery item but did not buy anything from the store, a South China Morning Post report said.

The incident took place on February 25 in the city of Xiamen situated in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian where a woman traveller, accompanied by her partner, had paid a visit to a pearl shop and asked the cost of a jewellery item and later turned to leave.

The woman's behavior left the shop owner unamused and the man called her a "poor ghost" for leaving by merely asking the prices and not buying anything from the shop.

"Poor ghost can't afford it, but still asked the price," the owner said.

The woman said she heard the insult from the owner and decided to confront him and in a video released on local online media , she could be heard asking him if he had insulted her.

"Did you just insult me? Do you think I am an idiot? Did you call me a ‘poor ghost’?" the woman told the owner.

"If you can’t afford it, aren’t you a ‘poor ghost’? Why did you even come in?" the owner said in reply.

As the altercation grew, the woman called the police who arrived at the location and tried to cool things down. They informed the shop owner that his behavior was unacceptable. The owner admitted he was at fault and apologised to the visitor.

Despite the apology, however, the shop owner was informed by the authorities to close his store temporarily.