Shabby behaviour at Hong Kong Disneyland

China Daily

BEIJING, Sept. 17 -- Even before the Hong Kong Disney theme park was officially opened with great fanfare on September 13, media coverage of the Magic Kingdom was already hot in China.

It was only natural to expect domestic media coverage of its formal opening to be even more frenzied. It was. But this time, the media's focus seemed misplaced. They did cover the grand opening ceremony heavily and forecast its economic implications for Hong Kong, but their focus this time around was on our fellow countrymen's behaviour on their maiden trip to this fun land, the third outside its homeland, America.

As many as 16,000 people, one-third of them from China, flocked to the fun-filled fantasyland on its debut day. Media reports said visitors from China disregarded the theme park's rules and behaved improperly in the park, triggering a nationwide debate on manners and etiquette, a discussion that is still raging in the media. But regrettably, some visitors from China, according to media exposure, failed those requirements.

Photographs of a child peeing near one of the park's restaurants and four Chinese women resting on the ground barefoot were plastered in the newspapers. And some male Chinese tourists pulled up their shirts or their long pants to cool down, according to reports by Hong Kong newspapers. Tourists smoking in non-smoking areas were also frequently spotted. Those who behaved indecently deserve to be reprimanded. But at the same time, the theme park should also take some blame. Some visitors complained that it was hot on the day the park opened formally to the public, but the park lacked shaded areas. And the lack of adequate resting places forced some tourists to squat on the ground because long hours of queuing had already exhausted them.

Actually, reports of our fellow countrymen not behaving properly on overseas trips are nothing new. Such reports have surfaced in domestic media intermittently ever since Chinese people began to take overseas trips in groups since the late 1990s. And usually a heated discussion ensued, lamenting our compatriots' lack of etiquette or indecent behaviour when abroad. Indeed, we are embarrassed to see some signs exclusively written in Chinese at airport lobbies in some countries, reminding Chinese not to talk loudly. Spitting, talking loudly and littering are singled out by the media and tour guides as the three most frequent misdemeanours by Chinese tourists abroad. Those reprehensible acts, though committed by a small bunch of people, have seriously tainted the image of Chinese and the nation as a whole.

As a country long reputed for its courtesy and etiquette, some of our compatriot's disgraceful deeds abroad will undoubtedly do our nation a disservice. Compared with just a few years ago, more and more people can now afford outbound tours. A total of 28.85 million Chinese took trips abroad last year, a whopping 43 per cent jump from 2003, although this accounts for only 2 per cent of the country's total population. With the country becoming more affluent, overseas travel will not remain, as at present, a privileged luxury for a small number of people. And with the expected number of Chinese travelling abroad increasing dramatically, this issue of manners should be dealt with properly and promptly.

As public awareness about manners improves and attention paid to their conduct grows, Chinese visitors' behaviour will improve markedly. But as the latest episode in Hong Kong Disneyland shows, some less conscious people still need to mind their manners and curb their diehard bad habits. At the same time, it is a reminder that public campaigns to educate people about good manners is still required. As our pockets swell, one hopes our behaviour as tourists will also improve.