(XINHUA)

(XINHUA)

WHITE GOLD: Ivory products are much sought after in China but their is importation strictly controlled (LI ZHONG)

(XINHUA)

With many African countries gaining the approved destination status for Chinese tourists, the continent is attracting an increasing number of Chinese visitors. Many travelers, however, ignore the warnings of what cannot be imported back to China, found on pamphlets in travel agencies, African embassies to China and even many stores in Africa, to their own detriment.

A man from Shanghai who only gave his surname of Qin is a case in point as reported by Shanghai-based Labor News. In September last year, Qin visited several African countries during his vacation and bought some small ivory products such as chopsticks, bracelets and brooches in South Africa as gifts for his friends, worth nearly 1,000 yuan ($146.5). On his return to China he was detained at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai and told that he was suspected of smuggling ivory and would be prosecuted. Despite Qin's insistence that he bought the ivory as gifts for his friends, he was still taken to court.

"Actually, I saw the warning information on the purchase of the ivory products in ivory stores in South Africa, but I did not expect that I would be involved in a criminal case," Qin said in the court, adding that he thought the severest punishment was to confiscate the gifts.

The court was not sympathetic to Qin's pleas and he was eventually sentenced to incarceration of 18 months plus a fine of 16,000 yuan ($2,344).