A photo of two female tourists believed to be from China sleeping on the ground next to an ATM in Hong Kong is causing controversy in the special administrative region.

Two female tourists sleep next to an ATM in Hong Kong. Photo: Shanghaiist

The photo was taken by a Facebook user named Rocky Wong. According to Wong, at around 4am on May 15, he planned to withdraw money from an ATM of Wing Lung Bank in the New Territories, but changed his mind when he saw two female tourists sleeping, blocking the way. Wong told local media that he suspected the two women were from mainland China, Shanghaiist reported.

Wong then posted the photo on a Facebook community group. Many Hong Kong Internet users quickly agreed with Wong's assessment, calling the two female tourists "poor mainlanders" and "shameless".

"24/7 air conditioning, good security, no overnight fees, so it's no surprise these women choose to sleep at ATMs instead of hotels," one person commented.

“You should step on them,” another advised Wong.

However, users of China's social network Weibo have responded.

"If these were two Western backpackers, blond hair, blue eyes, everyone would be cheering them on for saving up to travel around the world," one person argued.

"How do you know those are tourists from the mainland and not Japan, Thailand or Taiwan?" another asked.

The reason for this situation is that mainland Chinese tourists are getting a bad reputation in Hong Kong after many incidents of them behaving uncivilly in public places, such as defecating on the subway or urinating in the middle of the street...

According to VNE