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End plague of uncouth, violent Chinese tourists
By Gu Guangqiang |
February 25, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S no longer news that some Chinese mainland tourists get on local people's nerves during their flamboyant trips to foreign countries or Chinese territories including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
These mainland visitors' disgusting habits - loud public displays, spitting, cutting in lines, and defacing sightseeing spots - are a nuisance to locals.
However, it absolutely was a jaw-dropping event when three Chinese mainland tourists punched a male Macao tour guide black and blue without reason.
The rough-up, which took place on February 15 in Macao, started over a trivial matter. The tour group was upset with a female local escort who arrived late for a tour.
When a male guide tried to make peace, three short-tempered men from the group thrashed him.
Enraged by this barbarous act and having heard no apology from the offenders, at around 9pm, more than 100 local guides stopped the bus carrying the group and demanded an apology. The stand-off dragged on for hours until early the next morning when one of the men stepped off the bus and apologized to the assembled local guides.
Increasingly, multiplying armies of Chinese touring overseas is a mixed blessing both for the places embracing the newcomers to the international tourist market and for the Chinese who are eager to see the outside world.
The good thing is that bus loads of Chinese are the most generous shoppers that local business-thirsty stores have even seen. Their free spending helps to boost local sagging economies and can help to create jobs for local people.
The bad side is that some of my countrymen, with bulging purses and uncivilized perspectives, are not ready for overseas touring. They are simply unprepared for their debut as they show off the low level of civility they practice at home.
Some who have just shaken off poverty can't wait to show off their wealth. Some venal officials are free with their ill-earned money. Some vain folk gain contentment by playing rich.
Pandemonium
These people tend to create pandemonium wherever they go, because they must do something to make themselves noticed. Therefore, in public places, they smoke, they talk loudly, they climb onto statues and they gobble their food like pigs.
Although it is only the minority of the Chinese tourists who exhibit rude behaviors, the bad impression they have left has been applied to all Chinese tourists. At many tourist destinations, some rules have been made to avoid the displays of bad behavior by Chinese tourists. Nothing could be more embarrassing!
In many hotels in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, exclusive areas are assigned for Chinese diners, simply because some eaters take away with them fruits and yogurt after meals, which violates the rules of these hotels.
In some renowned museums like the British Museum, some annoying Chinese kept touching exhibits. Glass cases now carry signs in Chinese to tell people to keep their hands off the exhibits. You rarely see signs in any other languages with this warning!
These uncivilized behaviors have won Chinese mainland tourists a disgraceful title: the world's most despised tourists. It was the result of a survey conducted by a tourism website of 4,000 hotel workers throughout the world.
Given the fact that China is an emerging power and its people are primary school pupils in terms of etiquette and good manners necessary for international association, both the government and the people need to wake up to the seriousness of the situation and the necessity for making up for the long-neglected rules of civil society.
Every traveler must take personal responsibility for himself and his actions. The individual traveler would be well-advised to watch people of other nationalities and see how they act and react in social settings.
(The author is a freelancer based in Shenzhen. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
These mainland visitors' disgusting habits - loud public displays, spitting, cutting in lines, and defacing sightseeing spots - are a nuisance to locals.
However, it absolutely was a jaw-dropping event when three Chinese mainland tourists punched a male Macao tour guide black and blue without reason.
The rough-up, which took place on February 15 in Macao, started over a trivial matter. The tour group was upset with a female local escort who arrived late for a tour.
When a male guide tried to make peace, three short-tempered men from the group thrashed him.
Enraged by this barbarous act and having heard no apology from the offenders, at around 9pm, more than 100 local guides stopped the bus carrying the group and demanded an apology. The stand-off dragged on for hours until early the next morning when one of the men stepped off the bus and apologized to the assembled local guides.
Increasingly, multiplying armies of Chinese touring overseas is a mixed blessing both for the places embracing the newcomers to the international tourist market and for the Chinese who are eager to see the outside world.
The good thing is that bus loads of Chinese are the most generous shoppers that local business-thirsty stores have even seen. Their free spending helps to boost local sagging economies and can help to create jobs for local people.
The bad side is that some of my countrymen, with bulging purses and uncivilized perspectives, are not ready for overseas touring. They are simply unprepared for their debut as they show off the low level of civility they practice at home.
Some who have just shaken off poverty can't wait to show off their wealth. Some venal officials are free with their ill-earned money. Some vain folk gain contentment by playing rich.
Pandemonium
These people tend to create pandemonium wherever they go, because they must do something to make themselves noticed. Therefore, in public places, they smoke, they talk loudly, they climb onto statues and they gobble their food like pigs.
Although it is only the minority of the Chinese tourists who exhibit rude behaviors, the bad impression they have left has been applied to all Chinese tourists. At many tourist destinations, some rules have been made to avoid the displays of bad behavior by Chinese tourists. Nothing could be more embarrassing!
In many hotels in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, exclusive areas are assigned for Chinese diners, simply because some eaters take away with them fruits and yogurt after meals, which violates the rules of these hotels.
In some renowned museums like the British Museum, some annoying Chinese kept touching exhibits. Glass cases now carry signs in Chinese to tell people to keep their hands off the exhibits. You rarely see signs in any other languages with this warning!
These uncivilized behaviors have won Chinese mainland tourists a disgraceful title: the world's most despised tourists. It was the result of a survey conducted by a tourism website of 4,000 hotel workers throughout the world.
Given the fact that China is an emerging power and its people are primary school pupils in terms of etiquette and good manners necessary for international association, both the government and the people need to wake up to the seriousness of the situation and the necessity for making up for the long-neglected rules of civil society.
Every traveler must take personal responsibility for himself and his actions. The individual traveler would be well-advised to watch people of other nationalities and see how they act and react in social settings.
(The author is a freelancer based in Shenzhen. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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