A video shows a 9-year-old Chinese girl arguing with local staff over horse-riding safety in Egypt. Photo: Screenshots from paper.com

A video showing a 9-year-old Chinese girl, Zheng Langlang, arguing with local staff over horse-riding safety in Egypt, has gone viral online, drawing praise from netizens for her sense of responsibility, according to the paper.cn.

In the video, the girl was seen speaking fluent English and using clear reasoning while talking with three local staff members at a riding venue in Alexandria, Egypt. At one point, she asked them, "2,000 dollars, you promise? We have the video. Say that you will give us 2,000 dollars [if we fall]."

According to the report, the girl, who is from Central China's Hunan Province, was taking horseback riding lessons in Egypt with her friends when she felt that the horses assigned to her friends were unsafe.

During the exchange, a local instructor told her, "If you ride, you may fall. This is not our fault." The girl immediately responded, "Yes, but I asked if you would change the horses. You said no," explaining that she had initially requested a different horse due to safety concerns but she was refused.

The video later shows the instructor allowing the girl to choose a different horse from four or five options. She agreed but again warned the staff, saying, "Don't use those two horses, because they are too dangerous, I can tell you."

In an interview with thepaper.cn, the girl said she believed it was her responsibility to protect her friends. She explained that she had brought two good friends to learn horseback riding and had promised them she would help choose gentle horses for them. When the staff refused to change the horses and would not even look at her while she was negotiating, she said she was really angry.

Her father, surnamed Zheng, said the girl insisted on arguing her case because they had seen those same horses cause two people to fall previously. He added that he felt proud that his daughter was able to stand up for fairness and speak on behalf of her friends in a foreign country, especially when others in the group were not fluent in English.

According to the report, Zheng and his family of three began a long-term trip along the Central Asia route in February 2025 and have been living in Egypt for about eight months.

After the video spread online, many netizens praised the girl, describing her as "very clear-minded, confident and brave." Others commented that she "has a promising future" and said her sense of responsibility deserved recognition.

Global Times