Posted on 08/12/2013 7:44:37 AM PDT by JoeProBono
BEIJING, - China's national tourism agency issued a set of guidelines for Chinese tourists whose behavior overseas has become a source of concern.
The marching orders consist of reminders not to litter, speak too loudly in public or commit acts of vandalism like the recent incident in Egypt where a "Ding Jinhao Was Here" suddenly appeared carved into a 3,000 year-old relic.
No less than a vice premier said publicly that "improving the civilized quality of the citizens" was a good way of improving China's international image.
The reception for the new guidelines, however, wasn't universally warm inside China. ABC News said at least one Chinese travel blogger wrote that while being on one's best behavior was fine, the Egyptian museum where Ding Jinhao made himself known should have had better security measures in place.
Don’t vandalize ancient monuments.
Don’t blow your nose on the hotel floor.
Put used toilet paper in the toilet and flush, not in the waste basket.
(I knew some maids at the university hotel)
I’ve seen this behavior so many times in all the countries I’ve traveled and lived in Asia. Us bystanders always just glance around and grimace awkwardly at how unbelievable some tourists behavior can be. The internationalized Chinese are so normal compared to the tourists. No one I know can explain it. Perhaps I’ll ask some of my Chinese co-workers for the heck of it.
heh, i had a good chuckle at this when i read it a few months ago.
glad this brat got caught.
but what about the talibans who blew up the other artifacts?
Disclaimer - a local who was there with out of town guests told us they were Chinese and what we had just experienced was a daily occurrence. I told my son (who was pretty PO'd) that their behavior was probably due to them coming from a place that is extremely crowded versus us not having to deal with that issue. It doesn't excuse it but I find it extremely hypocritical in light of this etiquette booklet!
How interesting thiis is, after hearing for years that the “Ugly American” is the worst tourist - we’re not “international” and “sophisticated” like travelers from every other country around the world. Guess we don’t measure up to the likes of Ding Jinhao...
Don't pass gas in public
However, in certain places, like rural Equador, tourists are requested to put the toilet paper into the wastebasket so it does not clog the alleged plumbing.
Chinese visitors need a short course in Toilet 101 so they can tell the difference.
Not exclusive to Chinese tourists. I was almost knocked to the ground at a very lovely buffet lunch at a resort Norway by the locals who knew where the lobster was.
And I thought I'd be trampled to death on the Eiffel Tower, where people from all over the world were pushing and shoving to get on the down elevator. . My daughter, who lived in Paris, rushed to my side and told me not to worry, I'd be ok, Europeans do not have the same sense of space as Americans. At home, don't we stand 3 - 6 feet from the person in front of us in a line at the bank?
One of my first experiences was in Hong Kong. I would be walking up Stanley Road a d 100 meters ahead of me would be another pedestrian walking down the road. I felt we might run into each other in 10 or 20 seconds, so I would move to the other edge of the sidewalk. Pretty soon the other guy would move to the same side I was on. I would the move back to the other side, and he would do the same a few seconds later. This behavior continued until we were three meters from each other and the we would just pass oblivious to the charade. It was so weird. I really enjoyed the fun spots in Homg Kong and meeting and partying with the local gals and ex-pats, but many of the local guys I worked with and partied were always really odd.
Megan’s Etiquette Recommendations for Chinese tourists in America:
1. Don’t spit on the sidewalk.
2. Don’t spit on the sidewalk where I am walking.
3. Don’t spit on the sidewalk where my husband is walking.
4. If you don’t care to follow #4 then please pick up your teeth from the sidewalk after he’s done with you.
There is a private academy in my area which hosts a fair number of Chinese students. A shuttle bus delivers them to the local supermarket a couple of times a week. As a rule, they don’t seem to have any situational or spatial awareness whatsoever. They often block an aisle as they conduct prolonged, animated conversations (in Chinese) and are oblivious to the jams which develop on either side of them. Many times they change their mind and back out of an aisle by walking backward with no attempt at looking behind them. If they smack into you in the course of that maneuver, it is with no more regard than if they had run into a counter. More than once; upon seeing the shuttle, I’ve sat in the truck and read until they scamper out and are ferried away. Their actions seem purely cultural. I’ve never detected animus from any of them.
And that is an excellent idea. Chapter ONe could be "Personal Space." I don't know whether that concept exists in other countries.
Lol - I think I have a photo pretty much like that, taken with some friends who were visiting New York City...
Speaking of personal space - a friend of ours (who, incidentally, is of Chinese background) was transferred from her company's New York City office to an office in suburban New Jersey. She noticed that in New York, people crowded into the elevators just like going into the subway at rush hour, jammed up against each other. In New Jersey, even if there was room, the people wouldn't get on the elevator beyond a certain level of crowding - even when, in some cases, she would speak up and point out that there was enough room. Then she "got it" - different amount of personal space than in crowded Manhattan!
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