Public casts doubts on effectiveness of new blacklist regulation
Chinese tourists continued to be ill-mannered during the week-long National Day holiday, reports and social media said, despite rules released in April to blacklist such tourists.
Experts have called for amendments to laws to harshly punish ill-mannered tourists and enhance youth education as well as media supervision.
Chinese tourists were frequently seen behaving poorly in various tourist spots across the country, according to media reports. Four young people reportedly climbed a monument to fallen firefighters and took photos in a square in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, while some visitors allegedly touched the breasts of the sculpture of historical beauty Yang Yuhuan of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in the Huaqing Hot Springs, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Some also reportedly washed their feet in the pool.
Other visitors reportedly entered prohibited areas, jumped queues, drew graffiti on scenic spots and threw trash anywhere, practices commonly-seen at tourist spots in China.
Some tend to put the blame on the huge crowds for the bad behavior. In Beijing, the number of tourists topped 8 million in the first four days of the seven-day holiday, while Northwest China's Shaanxi Province welcomed over 40 million tourists, local media reported.
The Xinhua News Agency on Sunday ran a commentary, criticizing the ill-mannered tourists. "China still has a long way to go to see a society with better quality. It will not only require self-discipline but also society's efforts."
A regulation issued in April by the China National Tourism Administration (NTA) said that tourists will be blacklisted for causing disturbance on public transportation, damaging private or public property, disrespecting local customs, sabotaging historical exhibits or engaging in gambling or pornographic activities.
Under the regulation, tourism authorities can report such violations to public security, customs and transport authorities as well as the central bank's individual credit department.
Only four people have been blacklisted for two years, but a Modern Express report said that they can still travel freely, triggering doubts over the feasibility of such a blacklist.
Also in May, the NTA asked Chinese travel agencies to report poorly-behaving tourists.
The Forbidden City recently announced that it will also blacklist such visitors, after a couple drew a heart-shaped graphic and carved their names on a 300-year-old copper vat.
"Authorities should categorize visitors' ill manners into those who violate laws, those who are morally wrong and those who disobey local customs. As for visitors whose behavior could be considered illegal, laws should be amended to severely punish them," said Liu Simin, an expert of the Beijing Tourism Society.
