"But sometimes there might be cultural misunderstandings as we have different cultures"
I live in Thailand and this is really how they speak.
Coming from a western country, we would be way more direct. They leave the toilet in a mess.. give them a bucket of water and some sponges to clean it up.. because frankly (and I lived in China too for a while).. the Chinese have no manners whatsoever.. they're rude, loud, obnoxious and just don't care. Their culture is" 'We have and spend money, so people will have to bow down for us"
Yep, I agree. They are taught to NOT have any humility, to NEVER admit wrong doing and never lose face, even when they know they have.That "cultural differences" is a euphemism to say : We know we are wrong, we are bad, don't follow the rules and don't care what your customs are; but you should respect us because we are superior Chinese. It is always the same thing because Chinese believe they are superior to all other humans. Good thing there is a minuet part of the population that does not think this way.
The thing about Us Americans...we are overly friendly, always compare things to the way they are back home, are overly personal, and can seem boorish to the typically reserved rest of the world. But...we almost NEVER #$%$ on the floor, spit, scream, or expect people to bow down...we might be carry a bit of cultural arrogance with us,...but on the whole Americans are polite, clean, interested in the local culture and actually spend serious money wherever we go.
The Chinese are the New Ugly American...followed closely by the incredibly rude and cheap Russians.
May not come as a massive surprise, but in London, for tourist-related industries, the management rate the Chinese highly since they spend so much.
In a second survey, done covering the workers at the coalface so to speak, the Chinese were ranked dead last. For precisely the reasons stated before.
Loud, bad manners, jumping lines, and theft. Most people will, when visiting hotels, "borrow" the pens from the room, the stationary, and occasionally, a towel. The Chinese? Pretty much strip the rooms!
Its ironic that it is their hated neighbours, the Japanese, who rank as 2nd amongst management, and 1st with staff. With several hotel workers insisting the rooms are cleaner after the Japanese have been there that before they arrived!
The Japanse is the most politically correct people in the world. Among all the countries I've traveled, they do almost everything right and so perfect that they become more like drones more than human beings. The people in China ( Mainland ), well that is the other end of the spectrum in all aspects.
They are not politically correct. Many restaurants in Kyoto, for instance, will not allow foreigners to enter. They tell you foreigners are not welcome.
Really? I can only speak from my own experience in Kyoto, as someone who lives in Japan, and never had an experience of getting turned away by a restaurant.
It's pretty hopeless to tell some Chinese tourist that queue jumping is a no-no, because the other 52 of them just did exactly that. Mainland Chinese don't queue, they crowd. If you do get their attention and they realize you are trying to say something about queue jumping, their mouths will hang open a bit and they'll probably start taking pictures of the weird stranger they saw on holiday. All this politeness and civility must seem like a strange foreign fetish to the sort person that has been casually spitting or peeing whenever and wherever he likes for his entire life.
I went to a McDonald's in Chagsha, China .It was big and very crowded, there was feeling like being at a rock concert with everyone aggressively trying to get closer to the band. People were waving money in their hands, yelling "I'm next" while trying to push towards the front. It was nuts.
The new rich Chinese have money, but no class! Keep them in China until they learn to respect a foreign culture, and while you are at it, toilet train your citizens, eh!
I was on a vacation that was ruined for the most part by Chinese vacationers.
On board the ship they were VERY rude. Pushing and shoving to get in elevators.
One shoved my girlfriend to fit another ten of them in the elevator.
I had them grabbing things out of my hands at a ship sale.
Pushing and shoving and cutting in line.
I had to leave the dining room because of their table manners.
You could tell if they used the bathrooms before you, they are slobs.
Then to top it off they were on the plane to Chicago, standing and leaning all over the place.
I had to ask the stewardess to get them to stop leaning over me and talking loud to their friends. At one point their was four people leaning all over my seat trying to out talk each other.
On the ship, I was getting so angry I was going to punch a few of them.
Ruined my vacation and others as well.
You couldn't go anywhere with out hearing other passengers complaining about them.
The men were very disrespectful to not only me but very rude to women.
If they are so smart, why are they so stupid on MANNERS.......
ive lived in thailand and the thais do all these things the trouble with the thias is they think everybody is #$%$ under their shoes and are compleatly run by money they said that about the farangs.thats why they are all leaving.the chineese will do the same
I live in China and I HATE the open mouth chewing too. I stare hard at them when they do that, but, they are oblivious to how other people view such bad manners.
@Gil: I agree with EVERYTHING you have describe & confirm that my experience with them is most similar - especially because I live in Hong Kong & put up with them on a daily basis. In fact, I now can't travel ANYWHERE in Asia without bus loads of them anywhere I go - it's like there is no escape.
But one thing I will categorically state - I DO NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT! I now stop them when they jump queue or push me ... I SPEAK UP. Believe it or not, they are in some ways counting on your good manners to NOT say something, so imagine their surprise & embarrassment when I have. It's always worked, and if some fool wants to challenge me (it has yet to happen), so be it ... I am fed up with businesses kow-towing to them & enabling their behaviour, so now I DO something about it myself when they behave offensively with me or those in my vicinity.
My baby attach to me in a pack on my chest was almost crushed in the line to the escalator because of one large chinese man jumping in front of us to be with his friend.People around us gasped at what they saw,the lines there fill fast.I wanted to kick him in the back of the head going down the escalator.
Not ALL chinese are like this. The ones you fellowshipped with are peasants with NO manners. On that note, isn't it amazing that formerly poverty-stricken peasants from China are now wealthy enough to travel on the same luxury cruise liner that you shelled out big bucks for? China's population is roughly 4-5x that of the USA - so it's understandable that they have at least 4-5x more peasants - poorly educated and definitely poorly mannered...but give them 10-20 years. Americans were the same when we used to travel frequently overseas - we were the "ugly Americans"...still are - but the peasant class of Chinese have us seriously beat for now...
For line-jumpers - just grab them by the shirt and yank them back behind you...cruise ships and airlines have rules about unruly passengers. It is the cruise ship's staff's responsibility to maintain order and discipline amongst the passengers, for everyone's enjoyment and safety...so obviously, the cruise ship's staff were and probably still are poorly trained on how to manage peasants and unruly cattle.
Arming them with stun guns and cattle prods should go a long way towards ensuring cultural harmony for all.
Americans never ate with such piggish manners as these Commiechinx today. And no, the Ugly American was known for his haughty, uncultured view of tourist spots, not for spitting and defecating everywhere
@jt I've seen nothing in Thailand any worse than other countries. You seem to be a bitter and angry man. Did a Thai woman steal your money or cheat on you?
@nagging n whining my way to success: I agree with much of what you say; however, I am opting out of expecting cruise ship staff, airline staff, or the employees of any businesses with a heavy rotation of Mainland Chinese patrons to do jack. This is part of the problem - they DON'T do anything, as they may put their profits at risk. Because I am dealing with the consequence of people jumping queues, pushing & shoving, and other such jackassery, I am responsible for my own well-being; therefore, you best believe I will do something about it.
@Jurgen: As much as I might also detest Mainland Chinese table manners, if you are a guest in THEIR country, it is only appropriate to accept THEIR standard of behaviour. I think the common gripe here is when the Mainland Chinese are guests in OTHER countries, and they don't have the basic etiquette to conform to their host countries' standard of behaviour!
@jt: I've also lived in Thailand for many years, and respectfully disagree. The one thing that I was - and still am - pleasantly surprised about is if I'm waiting to be served at a register, and a Thai person cuts the queue, the cashier will just ignore them & serve me as the next in line. Now, I am a farang, so this IS a surprise - especially compared to Hong Kong, where it seems that even the local cashiers & shop attendants will ignore you - no matter how long you've been waiting, and serve a Mainlander first!
They just never heard of manner or class. If you want to enjoy your trip, just stay far away from them. They leaned on to your seat on the plane, but one was bending over talking to their friends with his butt sticking out to my face during my flight. They can live with $1 a day. That tells you the class they are in. They somehow got the money, but it will take hundreds of years before they catch up with the civilization.
I have been to Thailand several times and while eating brunch at the Four Seasons in Bangkok I had a Chinese man in his 30's, sitting near me pick his nose the whole time I was eating and while going through the buffet line a Chinese lady had her hand under her dress, up in her armpit scratching then reached down and grabbed the serving spoon...It is normal to see a well dressed Chinese business lady coughing, hocking and spitting on the sidewalk...
I had heard that the Chinese were bad tourists but I now have first hand experience. I traveled from Bangkok to Singapore and had close contact with them starting at the airport, on my flight, and continuing on throughout my stay in Singapore. Part of the problem is that they travel together in large packs which I think makes them feel more comfortable behaving like they do. They are loud and demanding,they have no consideration for anyone but themselves.
In the future I will avoid them whenever possible!
Most Chinese people are so rude and disrespectful. they are unclean and unfriendly wherever they go. China is the oldest Country on earth with no culture. only rude and bad to others.
There's no "cultural" difference. I've been all over the world, including 14 years in China.
MANY Chinese are absolute pigs!! And most of those tourists are in Thailand on group tours and junkets. They live in their own little world. They are the result of the Cultural Revolution, when children ran the country and the only thing important was Mao and his "vision".
Peer pressure was erased, and as long as you upheld Mao's principles, you could do no wrong.
Now they are an embarrassment with their impatience, crudeness, illmanneredness, loudness and total inconsideration for others.
DON'T mollycoddle them, or they will not respect you. Loss of face is how it sinks in!!
What can one expect from a nation where nothing outside the home is kept clean except by those workers paid to do it, where cutting in line is the norm not the exception, where being loud and brash and pushy are tolerated, and where most of the new rich are one or two generations removed from the countryside?
"revive a sclerotic economy" - This is a perfect example of inappropriate and unnecessary use of an obscure term, when a common word would serve the purpose much better. This write is a nincompoop.
I'v both traveled and lived in Thailand. For the most part, the Americans and Europeans are behaved and go quietly about their business. But the Russians and loud, dumb and obnoxious while the Chinese are rude, crude asnd socially unacceptable.
It is indeed a problem that's widespread enough to be shameful. I've been very lucky to be around the Chinese who generally do better. The ones that "know better" are the minority not the reverse as is claimed the article.
I would maintain that it's the majority of the Chinese citizens that have a very long way to go indeed to attain an acceptable level of manners and culture. Let's be honest.
For still like my chinese cousins. I'm 1/2 Chinese and I worked with them in the pharmacy in California, I experienced it and I hate it to be around them.
Sorry but the only cure for bad manners is to not tolerate it. The first one of them to push me out of line or shove me out of their way will discover that messing with me is not the best idea they have ever had. After getting a splint on their nose, their jaw wired, and an ice pack on their testicles i suspect their manners will improve.
My brother-in-law used to provide bus transportation services to Mainland Chinese tourists and it was not very good experience. He said they were very loud, filthy, and ready to fist fight over small thing like a good seat on the bus!
