China instructs its citizens on how to behave abroad

[third eye]

[COLOR="#"]A very good move. I wish the Indians too would be told to follow similar guidelines.

I have seen Indians & Pakistanis behave terribly when abroad in a group. [/COLOR]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/28/travel/china-tourist-behavior-egypt-vandalism/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

Spitting. Littering. Cutting in lines. Defacing historic treasures.

These are some of the behaviors the Chinese government is hoping to eradicate with a set of official conventions to be followed by Chinese citizens when traveling.

The guidelines were posted Tuesday on the Chinese central government's website.

According to state news agency Xinhua, the regulations also prohibit climbing on or touching ancient relics or carving into them.

The call for "civilized" conduct comes in the wake of a firestorm of anger and outrage unleashed in Egypt, China and around the world this week when a 15-year-old Chinese tourist carved his name in Chinese characters into the 3,500-year-old stone at Egypt's Luxor Temple.

The biggest backlash came from within China with netizens exposing and criticizing the teenager.

The netizen reaction shows the incident in Egypt should not be used to generalize the behavior of Chinese travelers, says Mei Zhang, founder and CEO of travel agency WildChina, which handles both inbound and outbound tourists.

"This kind of behavior is difficult to label as bad Chinese tourist behavior because the outreach you've seen on Chinese social media like Sina Weibo is, 'How can this be possible?'" Zhang told CNN.

"It's almost like the behavior of this young man in Egypt is one piece of [Chairman] Mao's dropping that spoils the whole pot of soup. This is what Chinese are saying."

The government regulations also call on travelers to follow public orders, protect ecology, public infrastructure and utilities, maintain a clean environment, respect the rights of others and show them courtesy, Xinhua reported. Travelers should also seek appropriate entertainment, according to the guidelines.

Outbound Chinese tourism has expanded rapidly in recent years. In 2012, Chinese overtook Americans and Germans as the world's top international tourism spenders, with 83 million people spending a record $102 billion on international tourism.

That growth has brought with it a backlash in some industry sectors. (See our report on Chinese tourism: The good, the bad and the backlash).

WildChina's Zhang said there have been similar issues in the past as Chinese citizens begin to travel internationally.

"It's a natural process that Chinese travelers are going through, as travelers around the world have also gone through. It's a gradual process of China's coming out, of China's travelers being exposed to more of the international world. It's a natural adjustment stage," she told CNN.

Earlier this month, Beijing called on its nation's tourists to improve their behavior, with Vice Premier Wang Yang stating it was important to project a good image of Chinese tourists.

Chinese travelers the world's biggest spenders

 

[curioususer]

Indians don't follow rules in their own country. Do you think they'll follow such advisory?

 

[third eye]

Indians don't follow rules in their own country. Do you think they'll follow such advisory?

Believe me even the Chinese dont follow rules.

I have seem more people spit inside the Metro in Shanghai than anywhere else.

What is worth commending is the sensitivity of the people & Govt of China who responded to the act of a Chinese in Egypt and are making the changes.

This is something we do not do.

 

[W.11]

yes it needs to be done, esp the literacy rate in pak is so low, needs to properly train our countrymen for country's image

 

[curioususer]

yes it needs to be done, esp the literacy rate in pak is so low, needs to properly train our countrymen for country's image

I don't think it's a literacy problem, it is something else in the sub-continent.

 

[Genesis]

I don't think it's a literacy problem, it is something else in the sub-continent.

old habits die hard.

During the Chinese war lord era. Zhang Zuolin, at one point the most powerful man in China, was started out as a lowly farmer so poor that he couldn't afford to go to school. Each of his meals have a side of green onions, that's the side that most people from where he is from have for every meal.

He couldn't eat without it. It is by no means classy, and the wealth and power he had didn't change his old habits.

His son, the later Zhang Xueliang, was born with a silver spoon, and he would dine with wine and western dishes. He would wear suits and be the definition of a gentleman. A stark contrast from his father.


What does this tell us? Chinese wealth is still in its first and second generation. It is by no means like the west, we are still not in a stage where the old bad habits have died along with the first generations.

Manners and class will come, this is a time thing, no other way around it.

 

[shuttler]

The whole thing about civic manners has to start in families and schools which are more pervasive and interactions are much stronger than through Governmental media.

In fact, folks are breaking some poor habits like spitting, jumping queues, throwing rubbish, jay walking. Especially in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing etc the rate of seeing our folks spiiting and jumping queue is close to ZERO!

 

[longyi]

The Japanese Government issued outbound-traveler guide books in the early 70s for their tourists and corporate people. It went into details such as how much to tip on different environments.

 

[cloud_9]

I have seem more people spit inside the Metro in Shanghai than anywhere else.

They could easily beat Bihari babuas & Western UP'walas in a spitting competition without breaking a sweat