Two passengers got into a physical altercation over a subway seat in Guangzhou on Sunday morning.

A woman in the carriage managed to record part of fight on her cell phone, posting the video clip on micro-blogging site Sina Weibo.

The clip has become an online sensation, prompting public discussion on whether young people should offer seats to the elderly to show respect.

The woman who filmed the fight described the brawling passengers on her Sina Weibo account as two men, one in his 60s or 70s and the other in his 20s. The woman said the young man pushed the older man aside as he was getting on the carriage so he could get a seat. This angered the older man, who scolded the young man for disrespecting the elderly and not offering his seat, prompting the fight.

"There were actually seats vacant for both of them, but the old man kept pointing a finger at the young man and gave him a punch. The young man fought back with a kick and the two began to tussle," the witness told New Express Daily.

The video clip shows the older man biting the young man. Blood is seen on the old man's face and on the young man's face and arm.

Subway staff members boarded the carriage and removed the two men when the train arrived at the station several minutes later.

According to New Express Daily, both men expressed regret for their behavior, and begged police to forgive them for their impulsive actions.

Local subway police announced on their official Sina Weibo that the two men suffered minor injuries and were both willing to make peace.

The discussion about the incident continues to rage online, with some people accusing the other passengers in the carriage of being "cold-blooded" for not stopping the fight.

The witness who uploaded the video clip explained on Sina Weibo that the clip does not show the entirety of the incident.

"We were trying to fix up their quarrel at the beginning, but these two people were so violent that they kept fighting even though we pulled them apart. We were scared away when blood was all over them," the woman wrote.

"They are both adults and should be responsible for their own behavior."