Chen Xian from Beijing was returning to the US to continue her studies when she heard a fellow Chinese passenger shouting at the flight crew. She experienced the cringe that many Chinese feel at the behaviour of the new legions of travellers from the world's biggest tourism market.
“I was on the flight when I heard a voice yelling, ‘Give me orange juice! Hey, waitress! Fill my water bottle with milk!’.”
While Chinese people are relishing their new freedoms to travel overseas, there are lots of tales of bad behaviour by tourists abroad, something most here find excruciating.
China is now the world's largest outbound travel market, with some 120 million people travelling overseas in 2015.
Videos of a Chinese tourist taking a bath in a canal in Venice as his companion gives him a back rub, the feeding frenzy at a Thai buffet, the schoolboy writing graffiti at the Temple of Luxor and a woman slapping a sales assistant at the duty free shop at Los Angeles airport made headlines here and sparked outrage at people seen as bringing shame on China.
Cultural faux pas
These are combined with cultural faux pas, such as jumping queues, making instant noodles in the kettles in hotel rooms and allowing children to go to the toilet in public areas at tourist sites.
Some incidents are more benign than others, but they all raise hackles among the online community.
A Chinese tourist who lost his wallet in Germany somehow ended up in a refugee resettlement camp for 12 days, while a family driving near San Diego were chased down by police on an interstate after they didn't realise that flashing lights and sirens meant they had to pull over.
Then there are the fights in which passengers throw hot noodles or tea at stewardesses over seat allocation. Or the first-time flyer on a Thai Air flight to Bangkok who urged flight crew to open the door of the aircraft so that he could have a quick smoke while waiting on the runway. An elderly gent on a flight to Nanjing pulled open the emergency exit shortly before take-off because he "wanted a bit of fresh air".
In a recent Al Jazeera report on Chinese tourists in Paris, restaurateur Stephanie Verret complained of people spitting on the floor of her restaurant, Rue de Provence.
Ji Bin Bin, or "Sister Bin", posted an expletive-laden video ranting against a fellow tour group member who tried to take home a hefty piece of wood from a beach in Thailand and won warm plaudits online.
“Why are there more and more of this kind of Chinese people? It’s f**king shameful,” she said.
A Chinese tour guide called Demi, who works in Denmark, said misbehaviour was common, but rarely malicious.
“In any restaurant or public area, a group of 40 people chatting together would be loud if they don’t control their voices. I don’t think a lot of the bad behaviour is done on purpose. For example, eating noodles by the side of the road or taking noodles into a restaurant, people are sometimes trying to save money but often it is because they are not used to western food,” said Demi.
"In my experience, most tourists are simply excited to be travelling in Europe. "
An editorial in the Global Times newspaper points out how two-thirds of China's overseas tourists now prefer independent travel over traditional package tours.
“The bad news is that many of them have no idea what they are doing . . . the rise of Chinese tourism is nothing to be proud of if it also comes with a rise of embarrassing media reports about their ignorance,” the editorial said.
Blacklist
China’s national tourist administration has designated nine types of misbehaviour that would mean your name on a blacklist drawn up by the country’s air transport association, earning a ban on travel for up to two years.
So far, travellers have been blacklisted for using an electronic device during landing, throwing a milk carton at airport guards after being told to drink it before going through security and attacking ground staff after a flight was delayed.
The civil aviation administration has updated its own rules to include fines of up to 50,000 yuan (€6,888) for any one of 14 misdemeanours, including use of mobile phones.
Tour guide Demi sees herself as a go-between between tourists and local businesses, and a big part of her job is apologising for her clients’ behaviour but also explaining or defending them to people.
“I will definitely stand up for my clients, because deep down, they are willing to learn; it just takes time and we need to be patient to get both sides of the story. Both sides need to learn the differences and behaviour will eventually be accepted,” she said.
