Yahoo News 
'Ignorant' tourist riles monks by trying to donate his iPhone during Buddhist temple visit
Cong Chu, 31, had visited the Buddhist temple in Foshan, Guangdong Province when he was presented with a collection box
A Chinese tourist left monks angry when he tried to donate his iPhone 6 during a visit to a Buddhist temple.
Cong Chu, 31, had visited the Buddhist temple in Foshan, Guangdong Province when he was presented with a collection box.
Rather than hand over a small amount of change as most visitors do, ‘ignorant’ Cong insisted on giving his near-new Apple smartphone.
Monks later gave him back the iPhone, pointing out they only take cash donations for temple maintenance and also ‘don’t have smartphones or know how to use them’.
Cong told local media that contacted him after the snap of his offering went viral that he had not meant it to be insulting.
He said: 'I was told that if you go there you can get prosperity and good fortune for the coming year and as it was a holiday anyway and my girlfriend was going, I decided to tag along.
'I didn't realise that we were expected to make an offering of something valuable and only had a few small denomination notes on me. I didn't want to offend anyone, or embarrass my girlfriend, so I decided to donate my iPhone which was worth a good few hundred pounds as it was brand-new.'
[Indian man, 24, sparks outrage after posing on top of 120-year-old tortoise 'to get Facebook likes']
[It's raining money! Dubai drivers abandon cars after notes worth £90 start blowing across highway]
But after one of his group took a picture of him making the unorthodox donation, he was spotted by a monk who hurried over and opened the collection box, handing the mobile phone back.
Temple spokesman Hui Ho said: 'We informed him that we only accept cash donations which are used for the maintenance of the temple and the everyday expenses of the monks. In any case, they don't have smartphones or know how to use them.'
After taking the phone back, the man had handed over all of the notes he had on him and apologised to the monks.
The image that went viral on local social media networks attracted widespread criticism of the man, with people saying it lacked respect, and accused him of treating the idea of religion as a joke.
One wrote: 'How can anyone be so ignorant, and offer something that represents exactly what monks are campaigning against as they urge people to be more in touch with their spiritual side.'
