We argue that the modification proposed by Li et al.[Chin.Phys.Lett.32 (2015) 050303] to the experiment of Danan et al.[Phys.Rev.Lett.111 (2013) 240402] does not test the past of the photon as characterized by local weak traces.Instead of answering the questions:(i) were the photons in A? (ii) were the photons in B? and (iii) were the photons in C? the proposed experiment measures a degenerate operator answering the questions:(i) were the photons in A? and (ii) were the photons in B and C together? A negative answer to the last question does not tell us if photons were present in B or C.On the other hand,a simple variation of the proposal by Li et al.does provide conceptually better evidence for the past of the pre-and post-selected photon,but this evidence will be in agreement with the results of Danan et al.