The Bad Image of Chinese Tourist

The Bad Image of Chinese Tourist 

"It undermines the image of the people in our country and made a bad impression."
Chinese tourists are rude. According to many news, Beijing has commercials in a program for the prevention of state television aired to encourage travelers to behave correctly. The idea of a new law was also issued to tourists who do not punish yourself on the local customs and traditions.
Graffiti, spitting and throwing garbage rudeness tourists hardly appreciated all over the world. And they perform many reactions in social networks, but also dissatisfaction leader. Recently a young Chinese carved his name on a bas-relief of the god Amun in an Egyptian temple, creating a scandal. An investigation was then started to find the culprit.

The Chinese authorities are upset. According to the magazine Vice, Wang Yang, a top executive as saying that his countrymen "a noise in public spaces was quoted engrave words on sights, cross the road when the traffic lights red, spit and other things uncivilized". He concluded: "It undermines the image of the people in our country and made a bad impression."
France is also the subject of myths about Chinese tourists. In the capital, a sign written in Mandarin encourage visitors to not do on the floor around the palace of the Louvre.
This new law is therefore to warn tourists. The Global Times, a Chinese newspaper, wanted to say that the blame race or nationality was as uncivilized to respond

sources Tourism, facebook page , twitter

France is romantic for Chinese Tourist

France is romantic for Chinese Tourist

Visit Paris is not enough to explore the "romantic France " , said this week in Beijing officials castles of the Loire , eager to capture also the growing Chinese tourist .
" This is a market that starts. Ten years ago , there was no Chinese tourists in the region," said Jean- Louis Sureau , director of the Royal Castle of Amboise, on the sidelines of a forum on World Heritage in the Chinese capital.

Nicknamed the " nursery " of the kingdom of France for the various rulers who were born there , the castle welcomes nearly 400,000 visitors a year , including more than 4,000 from mainland China.
Mr. Sureau hope to see repeated with the Chinese what he experienced with the Russians, who in less than 25 years have established themselves as the first foreign customer of historical landmark . This a
lready is the way Amboise recorded an annual increase of 8% to 10 % of the number of tourists from the Middle Kingdom .

China Promotion

However, a less than that enjoyed by other major sites worldwide growth . Chinese travelers increased from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012 , according to the World Tourism Organization.
The Loire Valley , a World Heritage Site by Unesco - an important reference in Chinese eyes - indeed suffering from the relative distance of Paris .
" They come to Europe eight to ten days , to many countries as possible ," describes Gael Ibramsah , commercial director of the Clos Lucé .

Loire Valley !

Organize a trip to the Loire Valley , about 200 kilometers from Paris , represents a challenge in this tight schedule , where a day is sacrificed for purchases relate to the country. Where will the chateaux of the Loire to target not the " first-time visitors " but those who return to France as a single destination. In 2012, more than a million Chinese visited France.
Overwhelmingly , they know the Eiffel Tower but have never heard of Villandry, Azay -le- Rideau and Cheverny .


Hence the efforts of influential Chinese social networks to address this lack of awareness , told He Siyang , responsible for promoting China Chenonceau , the second most visited castle in France after Versailles. Chenonceau (up to 8,000 visitors per day) just opened an account " Weibo " service first Chinese microblogs , and takes every opportunity to show in China , she says . A clothing brand Shanghai, 16th North is thus achieved its autumn / winter catalog 2013.
The Clos Lucé , where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life , he plays the card of the Renaissance genius . "100% of Chinese tourists going to Paris to visit the Louvre in 45 minutes to see Mona Lisa ,".

Chinese ministry of Culture

In a presentation in Beijing, attended by officials from the Chinese Ministry of Culture, he praised the interest to go further in the footsteps of the painter of the Mona Lisa . National Estate of Chambord account his side pass almost 800,000 visitors a year in 2012 to one million in 2019 , multiplying by five the number of Chinese .
The grand residence of François 1er is also trying to increase their media exposure in China. Already paired with the Temple of Heaven in Beijing , Chambord has hosted a few months ago a parade of " Miss China " . These castles now have websites , leaflets or visit audioguide in Chinese.
And , increasingly , they are part of circuits for Asian clients , including Bordeaux ( popular for its red wines in China) and Mont Saint -Michel . In the imagination of the Chinese, France is the country lifestyle and romance , a reputation that has been tarnished by recent attacks tourists. Asset France, tourism development agency of France, took up this theme in 2012 by launching a campaign in China to promote the "romantic France ."
Also followed a path on the banks of the Loire. The royal Château d'Amboise and organizes " marriage proposals " charged 349 euros . " Demand is scripted in marriage on the pattern of Romeo and Juliet" , told AFP Marc Metay , deputy director of the castle.
This offer targeting young Chinese couples includes declaration of love in the gardens and a champagne cocktail , a photographer immortalizing the moment . Of " weddings " are also possible, with delivery of a "certificate" by a council member of Amboise wearing a tricolor scarf.

sources : Tracy,  http://touristchinese.wordpress.com/

Need a China Visa?

A visa is needed to enter China and should be applied for about 6 weeks in advance for a single entry but double entries can be made too which extends over a year long period.  Each entry is for 30 days which starts on the day you enter China.  For multiple entries you must leave the country between each entry.  An extension can be applied for when in China should you need a few extra days in most large cities at central police stations.  The Visa becomes valid the day it is issued and your entry to China must be made within 90 days to remain valid   You may apply directly at one of the six Chinese Consulates or use a Visa service. Consulates are located in six different cities:  Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Most people apply by sending in their applications by Fedex, UPS or USPS  through a Visa Service since you must enclose your passport. The application form is 4 pages long and may  require other documents to be sent in with it.  For a copy of the visa application and instructions you may go on line or request that I send you via email an official visa application and instructions to apply yourself  or through a Visa Service.    Please email Dave at   interlak@eskimo.com  I will be glad to answer any questions.  

Yuelu Mountain and the Chinese Movie Theatre

We are starting to get the hang of some aspects of our life in China.  We just passed the one week mark and are pretty proud of ourselves for surviving this critical adjustment period.  Now, we only have 47 more weeks to go.  We seem to be picking up a handful of new words and phrases each day in Mandarin and will hopefully be able to get by even better a few months down the road.  Stacie is definitely studying the hardest.  She has a little notebook that she writes expressions in and then studies them throughout the day.  Then, she goes through the Chinese textbook at night after we put the kids in bed.  I wish I were as diligent as she is.  I usually just blog or watch tv (Netflix and Dish Network thanks to my brother, Eric), but I know that's not going to do much for my language skills. When the last season of Breaking Bad is over, I'll reassess my priorities.  Hopefully, I can find the time to do both.  We both have some apps on our phones that have proven to be critical.  One is called Hanping and it helps us translate English words into Pinyin and Simplified Chinese characters.  It also has a speaker icon that when pressed pronounces the word for you.  We also have Google Translate, which allows us to type English in full sentences and then translates them for you into Mandarin.  Stacie's phone (I'm not sure why mine doesn't) let's her say the sentence into the phone and it types the English text and translates it.  It's kind of a crutch for now, but we really pay attention to the words that we have looked up and try to learn them for next time.  The children are also doing well with their Chinese.  So far, they have had many opportunities to interact with people and to practice.  It certainly helps that we are quasi-celebrities here and can barely walk down the street without people coming up to us and wanting to take our picture and converse.  Even though we don't understand them very much, they are very kind and usually just tell us our children are beautiful or that we appear to be a very happy family.  We can recognize questions such as "Where are you from?" etc. and can reply that we are "Meiguo Ren" (Americans) and that yes, we do in fact have "Wu Ge Haizi" (five children). 

Today, we finally had the opportunity to climb Yuelu Mountain.  It is such a beautifully scenic spot and one of the more popular destinations in Changsha.  And, the entrance to the trail (more like a paved road) is only about 3 blocks from our apartment.  The mountain is so lush and green and has many different kinds of vegetation.  I knew Stacie would love this area and I was really looking forward to showing her this beautiful spot.  She's always been a nature girl and I knew the scenery would lift her spirits.  It's also good to get away from the honking horns and the constant threat of being run over by crazy drivers.  It was a much cooler day (high of 88 degrees) and we enjoyed our 2 1/2 hour trek up the mountain and back.  Lucy wanted to be carried most of the way, but the other kids did just great.  We went through about 9 water bottles in all.  The risk of dehydration is pretty good in this weather and we are trying to be careful.  When we reached the top, the view was tremendous.  We could see a large portion of the city of Changsha (which is just massive by the way), but we could also see spots of vegetation around the city.  It gave us a glimpse of what the terrain really looks like in our area and how things might appear had there not been so much urban development.  When we got home, we were just exhausted.  Luckily, we had cups of noodles (almost like our Ramen noodle cups in the United States).  We are becoming pros at boiling water to do our dishes, so making noodles was not a big stretch. 

Tonight, we were invited by my friend Ya Lun and a couple of her friends to the movies.  Ya Lun is the girl who was assigned to be my personal assistant last summer (I know that sounds weird to have a personal assistant).  She helped tutor me in Chinese and helped me to shop and get money from the bank when I needed it.  It was nice to introduce her to my family and to spend some time talking with her. We decided to go see Monsters University in 3D.  Last summer, I had the chance to see The Avengers and Men in Black 3 at the very  same Imax theatre and the movie was in English with Chinese subtitles at the bottom.  I found it annoying at first, but then I got used to it and was grateful to be able to watch these movies at all so far from home.  I assumed that this is what the kids would encounter when they went to Monsters University.  I even told Jeanie to expect some subtitles so that she wouldn't be surprised.  When we went into the theatre, the movie had already started because we were a little late.  We discovered that the movie was actually dubbed in Chinese.  Jeanie said "Daddy, you said this was going to be in English!"  I responded that she would just have to watch it anyway.  After about 10 minutes of getting used to Chinese voices for all these characters we know and love (the big void without John Goodman and Billy Crystal), we laughed and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Ya Lun bought the kids popcorn (caramel since they don't have butter popcorn in China) and cokes.  Our kids don't drink caffeine, but it was one of those times we just said "the heck with it" and let them drink them anyway.  We worried they would be up all night, but I guess the Coke was no match for the exhaustion following the long hike up Yuelu Mountain.  Below are some pictures (and a couple of videos too) of our recent adventures.  The videos don't allow captions, but the first one is me filming a few seconds of the Chinese version of Monsters University.  The second video at the very bottom is the sound of the construction we have been dealing with at our apartment complex since we arrived.  I sure hope they are finished soon.  We lost our water for a few hours today, but it wasn't a big deal.

 

Annie and Jeanie having fun with Ya Lun and her friends at the movies.

Sully and Mike Wazowski ain't got nothin' on Jeanie.

We pretty much try a new snack every time we go to the store.  These are peanut crackers with seaweed flavor.  When they first hit your taste buds, you aren't sure, but then they become addictive.

One of about 75 rests we took on the way up Yuelu Mountain.

These girls wanted to take their picture with Stacie.  It's not often they see such an American beauty.

Stacie practicing her Chinese with these young girls.  I didn't hear all of their conversation, but I think the girl on the left is shocked at the amount of Chinese profanity that Stacie knows.

Here we are at the top of Yuelu.  We don't yet know how to ask someone to take our picture or we might have got the whole family in this one. 

Another great view of the city of Changsha from the top of the mountain. This was a surprisingly clear day.  It's usually a bit hazy from the pollution. 

What's all the fuss about here?  Oh yeah...a tiny caterpillar.

The television tower at the top of the mountain.  You can see this thing from all over Changsha.  Seems like a lot of work for one channel that doesn't have anything good on it.

More people wanting to take their picture with those famous Steins. 

I guess Annie's orthodontist has a little contest to see who can take their picture with one of Andertson Orthodontics' t-shirts from the farthest place on earth.  I'm not sure how anyone is going to beat her.  We are literally on the opposite side of the world.  Even the North Pole is probably closer to Utah than we are right now (although I'm not sure how to confirm this).

Lucy being carried up the mountain by her mommy.  On the left side of the photo is a representation of the most common attire for men during this crazy heat.  I know there's that expression "When in Rome...," but I'm not quite ready to show off my body yet.

Ezra has this look that says "Dad, I know this was an open bench, but this sleeping dude is making me a bit uncomfortable."

Base of the mountain.

Stacie chopping vegetables for us to cook for dinner.  We finally expanded our one kitchen tool operation (the rice steamer) and bought a frying pan.  We are going to saute tonight.

This is such hard work.  I first wash the food off the dishes in the regular Chinese tap water.  Then, I boil hot water in the kettle and pour it all over the dishes and stack them up to dry.  Then, I pour boiling water on the dish rag and wipe the countertops.  Sheesh.  I won't complain about helping load the dishwasher when we get home that's for sure.

Family dinner.

Yes, we still make the kids do chores.  They are hanging their own laundry up to dry in the sun room.

Lucy loves to shop. Can't you tell?  Oh, and more people staring at us again.

The secret to Lucy's happiness in China is Oreo cookies.

Ready to check out.

The sidewalk leading from our apartment to the university. 

This road leads from the grocery store back to our apartment.  We walk one more block straight and then left.

Breakfast in China

Meals are all quite large in China.  Breakfast in most large city hotels have a large selection of western and Chinese food for you to choose from Buffet style.  Eggs may be cooked as you watch the way you like them.   The cost in most hotels is included in the cost of the hotel room.   When booking hotels be sure to check to see if the breakfast is included or you may be surprised when you check out and find that the cost has been added to your bill.  In the remote areas or non-tourist areas most likely only a Chinese breakfast will be available but usually does include eggs, fruits, breads and rice gruel.   Breakfast as we know it is not usually available outside hotels in restaurants; however a simple Chinese breakfast can be had in small local restaurants or on the street.   You can always buy foods in the markets too especially if you are going on trains or travelling in remote areas where restaurants may not be available.   I can tell many stories of my experiences with restaurants and vendors during my 25 years of travel throughout China.  For more information please feel free to contact me at    interlak@eskimo.com    My name is Dave

Laundry in China

This is one thing you should be aware of before going to China.  At this time there are no laundries as we know them.   Hotels have this service and usually can be done in one day or less.  In the closet or in the desk drawer is a laundry list with prices.   The more expensive the hotel; the more expensive the laundry.   A bag is furnished to put dirty clothes in along with copies of your list.  You keep the top copy.  You can either call housekeeping or leave the laundry bag in the hallway.  Laundry will be back in the evening.  You can ask it to be on hangers or to be folded. These days some hotels are just washing the clothes and adding a charge if you want them pressed.  Just pressing or dry cleaning can also be done.  These costs can add up so you might think about clothes that are of quick drying materials that may be washed in your room, rolled up in a towel to get the water out and hung up to dry.  There is a cord that can be strung above the tub in the bathroom.  Leaving the fan on will speed up the drying process too.  If you are in the countryside or a remote area they still have laundry service in the hotels but don't expect it back for right away depending on the weather!  They have no dryers and hang it out to dry!  :-)   The first time it happened to me was a shock as I put two very damp shirts in a plastic bag and left.    For more tips on Travel in China, let my 25+ years of travel through out China you may contact me with your questions at  interlak@eskimo.com   My friends call me ChinaDave.

Uncivilized Chinese Tourist

Uncivilized Chinese Tourist 

"It undermines the image of the people of our country and made ​​a bad impression." Chinese tourists are rude. According to Le Monde, Beijing has aired commercials in a program of prevention of state television to encourage travelers to behave correctly. The idea of a new law has also been issued to punish tourists who do not respect the local customs and traditions.
Graffiti, spitting and throwing garbage, rudeness tourists are hardly appreciated in the world. And they cause many reactions on social networks, but also discontent leaders. Recently, a young Chinese carved his name on a bas-relief of the god Amun in an Egyptian temple, creating a scandal. A manhunt was then started to find the culprit.
The Chinese authorities are exasperated. According to the magazine Vice, Wang Yang, a top executive was quoted as saying that his countrymen "make a noise in public spaces, engrave words on sights, cross the street when the light is red, spit and other things uncivilized ". He concluded: "It undermines the image of the people of our country and made ​​a bad impression."
France is even the subject of myths about Chinese tourists. In the capital, a sign written in Mandarin encourage visitors not to defecate on the floor around the palace of the Louvre.
This new law is therefore to warn tourists. The Global Times, a Chinese newspaper, wanted to respond by saying that blaming race or nationality was as uncivilized.

source : Googleplus , Facebook , This Blog , old article 1 & 2