It is cherry blossom time across China, and those of us who have never enjoyed the beauty of these delicate blooms can take a walk down Nanjing and simply gaze at their ethereal splendour. However, over the last few years, some people have not been content with just that. Two years ago, proud citizens of this ancient city were shocked to see a man kicking the slender trunk of a cherry blossom tree on one of the city's famous tree-lined avenues. His only aim was to have the tree shower its blossoms on him.

Another strange sight which greeted Nanjingers was a woman climbing a cherry blossom tree with her red stilettoes still on. She settled herself against the trunk, and then found it difficult to extricate her high heels from it.

Around the same time, a video went viral on the internet showing two young girls shaking a tree in Hunan University, while a friend took their pictures one by one under the falling flowers. Now, this behaviour has spread across the country. Wuhan University is famous for these trees. Upon noticing the number of tourists desirous of seeing cherry blossom trees, the university started charging for tours. But people protested - they said that these trees, although they were within the campus, belonged to the city, and as such should be accessible to all. The university relented and allowed everyone in.

As happens at all tourist sites in China, hordes started coming in, their numbers going up to 20,000 on a single day. But it was not just the crowds that overwhelmed the university. A few days ago, as some tourists climbed trees and bent their branches to pose for pictures, a drunk tourist jumped over a fence and began shaking a tree. He wanted his little son to enjoy the sight of the white snowflake-like flowers raining down. Some tourists actually applauded him.

A student stopped him, but after a few minutes, he started again, challenging anyone to stop him. The angry student posted the video of this entire episode on the internet. It was reposted by the university on Weibo, China's most popular social media site.

This uncouth behaviour is a result of the craze for posting pictures on social media. Five years ago, one could enjoy the sight of cherry blossoms in bloom in Nanjing, which actually has a Plum Blossom Hill, without encountering any of these antics. Today, in Beijing, guards must caution tourists against such abuse, and Nanjing has warned tourists that they will be blacklisted from areas that have cherry blossom trees if they abuse them.

It was in Japan that this behaviour first came to light, two years ago. Japan's cherry blossom tourist season is renowned. The otherwise notoriously expensive country saw a massive increase in tourists from China in 2016 when the yen had weakened. Some of them unleashed their enthusiasm on the cherry blossom trees in Tokyo's Ueno Park, shaking them, climbing on their slender branches, and pulling branches down to pluck the flowers to put in their hair, all for a good picture.

The Japanese were so appalled that one media commentator suggested that a "Chinese-only" zone be created in the park, to save the rest of it from "Chinese-style flower appreciation". This public shaming put a stop to such behaviour.

Normally, the official media in China is quick to feel slighted over every Japanese comment on their citizens. But after the recent Wuhan University experience, even the Chinese media have started using the phrase "Chinese-style flower appreciation".