Chinese Government To Crack Down on Rude Tourists

Chinese tourists who have exhibited terrible manners abroad are in for an awakening as rude as their manners — and it’s all going to start from their very own government.

A few weeks back, a Thai celebrity complained bitterly as she caught a flock of Chinese people’s disregard for queuing rules at an airport on camera. Unfortunately, a good number of people around the world have had their own fair share of horror stories about Chinese tourists’ rudeness. From the hushed whispers of hotel attendants who have to deal with careless leavings in lobbies and corridors, to “hot watergate” and the horrifying graffiti a teenager left on the torso of an ancient wall carving in Egypt, there is a surfeit of evidence for the loutish behavior of Chinese abroad.

A 15-year-old scrawled “Din Jinhao Was Here” on this ancient wall frieze in 2013.

In a bold move to put a stop to this, the Chinese government has begun adding the names of the above offenders to a new blacklist which may affect their credit ratings and freedom to travel for years to come, perhaps even indefinitely.

Many Chinese tourists took 10-million trips overseas, a good chunk of 20% more than last year. Many host nations have chosen to “grin and bear it”, as this meant that China is now contributing more money into the international tourism industry than ever before. However, officials say this is still no excuse for their own citizens’ “uncivilized behavior”, and are actively taking strict measures to have Chinese tourists play nice.

“Uncivilized behavior … [has become] a major issue in our oversight of the tourism industry,” says Li Zhongguang, a researcher at an arm of the China National Tourism Administration. “Our government has been forced to respond to it.”

Li further explains that about two dozen government departments were involved with drafting new rules to keep public embarrassment incidents in check, including the ruling Communist Party’s “Civilization Office,” which is tasked with ideological affairs.