Beijing, Oct 03: Chinese Government has asked its
tourists to behave in a "civilised" manner in tune with the
communist giant's growing global stature.
Beijing launched a campaign yesterday to teach
travelers how to behave while they were overseas.
The move aims to promote civilised behaviour among
Chinese travelers and restore the country's image which has
been tarnished by the behaviour of some Chinese tourists.
The civilisation office with the spiritual
civilisation steering committee and the national tourism
administration jointly issued an etiquette guide yesterday
telling Chinese travelers to pay attention to daily etiquette
and hygiene while abroad.
Chinese travelers are asked not to litter, not to
talk loudly, to respect queuing rules, be polite in public
places and observe the rule of "ladies first."
Uncivilised behaviour is becoming a real embarrassment
for China. Spitting and littering top the list of uncouth
behaviour among Chinese tourists, the official Xinhua news
agency reported.
The office and the administration also published rules
of etiquette for domestic travelers, including not smoking in
no-smoking areas, not talking loudly, not trampling on grass,
to always wear a shirt in public places and respecting the
customs of religious and ethnic minorities.
The rude behaviour of some tourists has damaged the
image of China as a civilised country and generated negative
publicity overseas, the committee noted.
Last year, Chinese tourists made 31 million trips
abroad and 1.2 billion trips inside the country.
The number is expected to hit 100 million overseas
trips by 2020.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, October 03, 2006, 00:00