Srinivas
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Chinese Now Seen as World's Worst Tourists; America Breathes Giant Sigh of Relief
America is losing its world-leading status to the Chinese in many areas, causing no small amount of hand-wringing among the cognoscenti, but there's one superlative we'd be glad to surrender: that of being the source of the world's most obnoxious tourists. As more and more Chinese people gain the discretionary income required for international travel, more and more host nations have complained about the coarse habits they exhibit while traipsing around the globe. According to the reports, Chinese tourists are prone to spit, litter, talk loudly, and allow their kids to pee and poop just about anywhere. But none of this is enough to grab headlines quite like the most recent act of alleged Chinese tourist obnoxiousness: a 15-year-old kid scratched his name into a 3,500-year-old relief in Egypt's Temple of Luxor. "Ding Jinhao was here," reads the poetic words of the Nanjing youth, whose parents have already apologized profusely. Upon reading the news story of the youth's indescretion, a hundred million American tourists heaved a deep sigh of relief and forwarded it to everybody they know.
As disturbing as this and similar stories are, I'm hesitant to jump on the anti-Chinese tourist bandwagon. First of all, I can't say I've witnessed any of these acts firsthand. New York is filled with tourists from China right now, but the worst offense I've seen is their seeming disinterest in standing in orderly lines. And second, how often can these incidents really happen? Sure, it's possible that at one point, a Chinese family allowed their child to urinate in the middle of a restaurant, but I refuse to believe that this is a regular occurance. It sure makes good copy for an outrage-baiting news story though.
And as for a Chinese kid defacing an ancient Egyptian work of art, I think the reason lies more in his age than his country of origin. The kid's 15, the most obnoxious age there is. A billion hormones are coursing through his body, he can't stand up for five minutes after a girl walks by, and everything his parents and teachers try to expose him to is so boring and lame. Of course he's going to lash out in stupid ways. He just picked a particularly sensitive place to do it. Plus, some readers may remember a Canadian museum visitor deliberately vomiting on Piet Mondrian's Composition with Red and Blue at New York's MoMA in 1996, and that idiot is now considered an artist in his own right. (He was making a "statement.")
So, if you've got to choose an enemy here, choose puberty. Don't allow pubescent travelers to visit your country without having a minder attached to them at the hip. You never know what might happen.
Chinese Now Seen as World's Worst Tourists; America Breathes Giant Sigh of Relief - Hotels - BlackBook
America is losing its world-leading status to the Chinese in many areas, causing no small amount of hand-wringing among the cognoscenti, but there's one superlative we'd be glad to surrender: that of being the source of the world's most obnoxious tourists. As more and more Chinese people gain the discretionary income required for international travel, more and more host nations have complained about the coarse habits they exhibit while traipsing around the globe. According to the reports, Chinese tourists are prone to spit, litter, talk loudly, and allow their kids to pee and poop just about anywhere. But none of this is enough to grab headlines quite like the most recent act of alleged Chinese tourist obnoxiousness: a 15-year-old kid scratched his name into a 3,500-year-old relief in Egypt's Temple of Luxor. "Ding Jinhao was here," reads the poetic words of the Nanjing youth, whose parents have already apologized profusely. Upon reading the news story of the youth's indescretion, a hundred million American tourists heaved a deep sigh of relief and forwarded it to everybody they know.
As disturbing as this and similar stories are, I'm hesitant to jump on the anti-Chinese tourist bandwagon. First of all, I can't say I've witnessed any of these acts firsthand. New York is filled with tourists from China right now, but the worst offense I've seen is their seeming disinterest in standing in orderly lines. And second, how often can these incidents really happen? Sure, it's possible that at one point, a Chinese family allowed their child to urinate in the middle of a restaurant, but I refuse to believe that this is a regular occurance. It sure makes good copy for an outrage-baiting news story though.
And as for a Chinese kid defacing an ancient Egyptian work of art, I think the reason lies more in his age than his country of origin. The kid's 15, the most obnoxious age there is. A billion hormones are coursing through his body, he can't stand up for five minutes after a girl walks by, and everything his parents and teachers try to expose him to is so boring and lame. Of course he's going to lash out in stupid ways. He just picked a particularly sensitive place to do it. Plus, some readers may remember a Canadian museum visitor deliberately vomiting on Piet Mondrian's Composition with Red and Blue at New York's MoMA in 1996, and that idiot is now considered an artist in his own right. (He was making a "statement.")
So, if you've got to choose an enemy here, choose puberty. Don't allow pubescent travelers to visit your country without having a minder attached to them at the hip. You never know what might happen.
Chinese Now Seen as World's Worst Tourists; America Breathes Giant Sigh of Relief - Hotels - BlackBook
