China Focus: Tourists encouraged to show good manners

Chinese tourists are encouraged to show good manners at attractions nationwide during the May Day holiday, as tourists' behavior both at home and abroad has been much criticized of late.

In Beijing Botanical Gardens, signs extolling "civilized tourism" could be seen everywhere. A 26 meter guard rail has been installed in front of the ticket office to prevent people cutting the line. Volunteers in the gardens asked visitors not to litter or pick flowers.

The volunteers were also telling visitors what kind of misbehavior would be recorded and may affect future trips. According to regulations issued by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), which came into effect on Friday, tourists will be blacklisted for offences including acting antisocially on public transport and damaging property. The regulations also require tour guides and travel agencies to remind tourists of proper manners and they have the right to report on misbehavior.

In 2014, Chinese tourists made 3.6 billion domestic trips, up 10 percent, the CNTA estimated. The number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad also increased by 19.5 percent year on year to 109 million in 2014.

"For the world's largest outbound travel market, even one in a million is enough to cause concern," said Yu Ningning, president of the China International Travel Services Co., Ltd.

In 2013, a Chinese tourist wrote his name on a carving in Luxor, Egypt. An angry Chinese passenger threw a cup of hot instant noodles at a flight attendant on an international flight in December.

As China tries to rescue the image of its citizens as holidaymakers, industry insiders suggested that the campaign should start with domestic trips.

At Yellow Crane Tower in central China's Hubei Province, number cards were issued at the Ticket office.

"We have received a record number of visitors during the holiday, 20,000 visitors on Friday alone. The cards were used to guide people to wait in line," said Wang Jingnian of the park management. "We've also scheduled more performances inside the park to decentralize the crowds from the main tower."

Punishments for littering were imposed at Dameisha beach park in south China's Shenzhen City. Tourists who behaved poorly were shown on two LED screens at the two squares in the park.

"It's all about awareness," said a mother who took her 11-year-old daughter to a park in Beijing.

"Hopefully these efforts will increase people's awareness of public behavior, especially children. The good habits should be developed from childhood," she said. Endi