Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Sunday reaffirmed his earlier statement that Chinese tourists should learn better manners, that “uncivilised behaviour” (talking loudly, spitting etc.) of some Chinese tourists is harming the country’s image.

China is now the number one tourism source market in the world. Many countries, especially its neighbours, are in a love-hate relationship with Chinese tourists. They brought good money, but their behaviour can be a headache lots of the times.

The fact that they usually travel in groups means that it can get really chaotic wherever they go. To be fair to the tour guides I’ve seen many trying their best to maintain order, but the Chinese tourists often seem disinterested to follow the guidelines.

It’s not that these people deliberate behaved badly abroad, it probably never crossed their mind that it’s wrong to do certain things (that they usually do) in public.

The younger generation (I’ve met quite a few) are a lot more accustomed to global culture, so they should be able to shake off the tag after a decade or two. I just don’t see it happening sooner despite the leaders’ intention, there will be too many hyper middle-age Chinese making their first trip overseas in the next few years.