China targets uncouth tourists

BEIJING: A Chinese etiquette watchdog has launched an education campaign to correct the embarrassing habits of Chinese tourists at home and abroad, a state newspaper reported on Thursday.

The official Spiritual Civilisation Steering Committee’s ‘Campaign to Promote Civilised Chinese Travellers’ will last until after the Olympic Games, the China Daily said, and comes as a response to negative publicity garnered by Chinese tourists’ behaviour overseas.

“Currently, the behaviour of our country''s tourists is not compatible with the rapid development of the tourist industry, nor with China''s international standing,” the committee said in a statement on its Web site.

In May, the Xinhua news agency cited Singapore media reports of airline and hotel staff complaining about Chinese tourists spitting, talking loudly and being rude.    With increased wealth, more Chinese are travelling for business and tourism.

Last year, 31 million Chinese travelled abroad, and as many as 100 million are expected to take foreign trips each year by 2020.

The committee cited some Chinese tourists’ lack of concern for appearance, hygiene, courtesy, the law, the environment and public infrastructure, as damaging “the image of China as a civilised country” and generating “widespread attention and criticism domestically and overseas.”

“Many tourists clear their throats loudly and spit, take off shoes aboard planes and trains, squat and smoke in public places, and often appear uncouth,” the China Daily said. The campaign was launched after “gathering public input on how travellers should behave” and was based on guidelines drafted by ‘expert groups’ and Party and governmental departments, the paper said.

Civil servants and state company executives will be specifically targeted for training, while the general public will be educated via the mass media and through pamphlets distributed at public transport stations, hotels, travel agencies, tourist spots, schools and work places, the statement said. The campaign comes after China marked the two-year countdown to the Olympics last Wednesday — a day when official press releases praising Beijing’s preparations were tempered with celebrities’ and residents’ concerns about standards of etiquette that were printed in newspapers. Games organisers have repeatedly said the city needs to teach its people to stand in line, stop spitting and littering and generally be better mannered. 

In addition to 250,000 foreign tourists, China expects over two million domestic tourists will visit Beijing during the Games.