Stop eating noodles and don't litter: Xi Jinping urges China's tourists abroad to clean up their act
President jokes on official trip to the Maldives that mainlanders should set good example abroad by not littering or damaging environment
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 18 September, 2014, 4:16am
UPDATED : Thursday, 18 September, 2014, 9:28am
Mandy Zuo [email protected]
Some Chinese tourists have been heavily criticised in recent years for misbehaving while travelling abroad, including being noisy, jumping queues and damaging cultural relics. Photo: AFP
President Xi Jinping has chided Chinese tourists, saying that they should behave themselves better when travelling abroad.
Xi's light-hearted comments came during an official visit this week to the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, a popular holiday destination for Chinese travellers.
"Do not litter water bottles everywhere. Do not damage coral reefs. Eat less instant noodles and more local seafood," the China News Service quoted Xi as saying on Monday night.
Some Chinese tourists have been heavily criticised in recent years for misbehaving while travelling abroad, including being noisy, jumping queues and damaging cultural relics.
A former employee at a five-star hotel in the Maldives revealed online in March last year that the hotel had stopped the supply of hot water to rooms to prevent Chinese guests preparing instant noodles.
He said the hotel's general manager even joked that "CN", an abbreviation for China, meant "cup noodles" because many Chinese tourists stayed up in their room eating the cheap food to save money.
Xi met embassy staff and representatives of Chinese companies in the Maldives and said Chinese citizens made about 100 million trips overseas a year. Chinese travellers are expected to make about 400,000 trips to the Maldives this year.
As Chinese became richer "the places they travel to are like ink", spreading out from neighbouring Asian countries and regions to more distant places in Europe, the United States and Australia, he said.
The president also asked Chinese people living in the Maldives to create a good image for China and for Chinese contractors working there to build projects that would stand the test of time.
"Let's not do one-shot deals. We should leave a good reputation here," he said.
The number of Chinese travelling abroad rose 18 per cent last year compared with 2012, according to the China Tourism Academy.
Chinese have become the world's biggest spenders on overseas tourism, spending more than US$128 billion last year.
According to a tourist market survey, the Maldives is among the 10 most popular overseas destinations for Chinese tourists.
China has been the top source of overseas tourists to the island nation since 2010, according to official data.
Of the 1.1 million foreign tourists visiting the Maldives last year, Chinese tourists accounted for about one-third.
A joint declaration issued after talks between Xi and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen earlier this week said China would encourage more tourists to visit the nation and more Chinese companies to invest there.
But Xi also demanded that the Maldives improve protection for Chinese tourists. The two sides agreed to establish a system to help ensure the safety of Chinese tourists visiting the country.
