The following link leads to an article I found quite humorous – the fact that I came across it, considering its from Fox News, is itself funny as well: “Not in the moat! Chinese tourists with no experience abroad irk locals in Thailand, elsewhere”
Apparently the Chinese are making quite the spectacle of themselves as they travel the globe. The article’s headline is a reference to a photograph snapped of one Chinese tourist taking a poo in a 700-year old castle moat in Chiang-Mai, Thailand. Thousands of miles away in France, there is a sign posted in Chinese at the entrance to the Louvre asking that they not relieve themselves anywhere on the grounds.
We usually think of Asian tourists coming (1) in groups, (2) with cameras, and (3) quiet and reserved. That’s because the tourists we are accustomed to are the Japanese and the Koreans. Only in recent years have we even begun receiving tourists from the People’s Republic. In 2007, there were not enough to include China on the top twenty nations of origin of inbound travelers to the U.S. Korea, however, sent about 900,000 tourists while over 3.5 million Japanese tourists arrived.
By 2010, the surge in Chinese tourists had begun; 2.8 million Japanese and 934,000 Koreans, a substantial drop of 700,000 visitors from the Land of the Rising Sun. Ironically, China now made rank -700,000 Chinese tourists visited the U.S. in 2010.
The article’s comparison of this lewd and obnoxious Chinese behavior to the “Ugly American” of the post-World War II years seem a bit of stretch. Yes, American teenage girls wore short skirts and sleeveless shirts into Iranian mosques. And there have been times I have been in Europe and embarrassed myself at how loud some of my fellow countrymen can be.
But I don’t think there’s any need for concern about us poppin’ a squat in the Louvre or any other historic buildings.
Roots, Credit & Life 