Dukey1

An interesting piece in the NY Times about problems some Chinese tourists have had when visiting Paris.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/wo...T.nav=top-news

adrienne

I just read that article and then saw this post. If the Chinese tourists have so much money to spend on luxury goods then why are they staying in budget accommodations in the northern suburbs? That's a little odd.

Dukey1

I gather they use tour operators and have no idea about the "better" parts of Paris. I can only imagine the complaints we'll get when these folks have decided to "OVERRUN" the 5th and the 6th.

Bedar

There was an article in The NYer on them not so long ago. Evidently they eat in their own restaurants, and the highlight of their European tours is a visit to Karl Marx's birthplace in Trier, Germany. On our Paris trip in March my daughter witnessed some ugly scenes involving them in luxury shops. Oh well.

justineparis

I read an article about Chinese tourists and it said they were surprised by the dirtiness of Paris. This was funny to me.. ever seen how dirty some Chinese cities are.. and the air pollution in some cities is at critical levels in many Chinese cities...

Personally I have been very unhappy with the behaviour of the tour groups I have seen .. they came across as rather rude.. block passage ways in museums etc.. the guides we encountered were a bit aggressive in talking loudly and herding them through.. but perhaps all groups are like that..

SeeHag

I was just in Gimpo airport in Seoul where we witnessed a fight among some Chinese tourists who appeared to be part of a tour group. Where were at the luggage carousel and suddenly heard a screaming match. We seriously thought one woman was going to beat down another woman. My son said they have a bad reputation in Seoul. We also ran into tons of Chinese shoppers in Osaka. We were in a shopping area and our Japanese friends said all the signs in the shops were written in Chinese which I had not realized.

annw

Interesting! In a brief stopover in Paris 3 weeks ago, I found the French uniformly kind and helpful -- probably more so than any previous trip. Maybe they were just relieved I wasn't in an enormous tour group of Chinese persons.

michele_d

<Personally I have been very unhappy with the behaviour of the tour groups I have seen .. they came across as rather rude.. block passage ways in museums etc.. the guides we encountered were a bit aggressive in talking loudly and herding them through.. but perhaps all groups are like that..>

I too have encountered Asian tour groups like this. It really annoyed me until I mentioned it to my friend, whose wife is Chinese and just ten yrs ago moved to the US from China. He told me that they do not do this to be rude, and are actually quite unaware that it is not proper behavior. This is how they have been raised: to fight hard for everything they have. This is just how they are. I have looked at the tour groups differently now and just step aside and let them pass. What seems rude to one group of people is normal behavior for another.

Dukey1

This is how they have been raised: to fight hard for everything they have. This is just how they are.

And now that they are traveling to other countries and directly interacting with other "cultures" they need to do what all other civilized people do: they observe the local customs and they adapt. They LEARN about what is considered proper BEFORE they arrive and please, if they can learn about the location of "high end shopping" at the Galleries Lafayette they can spend some time learning how to act as well.

When I visited China I observed local customs and I remained polite and respectful. These people are not stupid and when they travel they are no longer in their own little world.

justineparis

Exactly what Dukey said.. many of us go to countries where we may not be aware of cultural differences and we ASK or research on how to behave to be polite.

The excuse of "its not how we do it at home" is not ok for anyone.

manouche

The people on those tours often come as "buyers" - they are not typical tourists. They are sent on a cheap group tour, and are given a whole bunch of cash to spend for other people who finance the trip.

They stay in hotels on the outskirts because they are inexpensive, are paid extra to prepare food that suits Asian tastes, have parking for tour buses, and dormitory-like sleeping arrangements. The tourists are bussed everywhere, and closely supervised, so they can't explore on their own. They are basically coming to Paris to work - buying luxury merchandise for someone who will re-sell and/or make copies for mass-marketing. It's probable that the fight at the baggage claim was just someone protecting the merchandise he was responsible for.

justineparis

hmm.. nice work .. but not a nice vacation.

Cathinjoetown

Travel to some place as "exotic" as Paris is very new to the Chinese working and emerging middle class.

As in so many areas, they will quickly adapt and learn how to have a more enjoyable, safe experience. Lord knows LV and Hermès will do everything they can to help them achieve that!

kerouac

Another important thing with the hotels that the Chinese tour groups use is that they have either electric kettles or huge thermos bottles of hot water in every room.

latedaytraveler

DUKEY1, very interesting...

flpab

I tend to notice they see everything through the lenses of their cameras. Put the dang thing down and enjoy. I use to want to yell at people here for their first shuttle launch with all the cameras. Look at the whole picture, hear it, feel it and look for the solid rocket boosters falling. You can't do it trying to follow just the flame.

hetismij2

Hopefully they will also adapt and learn how to behave when not in China. Lots of countries struggle with the behaviour of Chinese tourists, and not only Western countries. Many Asian and African countries also find Chinese behaviour such as spitting, public urinating and defecating, shouting, ignoring no entry signs, etc etc highly offensive.

My Malaysian Chinese SIL hates meeting big groups of Chinese when travelling. She is embarrassed by them, and suffers from being seen as one of them.

laverendrye

How ya gonna keep 'em down in Beijing after they've seen Paree!

Southam

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Fifty years ago it was "ugly Americans" who were derided in Paris. Thirty years ago the pushy German package tourists were demanding schnitzel in every resort town. Recently wealthy Russians? Mon dieu!
So now maybe the Chinese are approaching a certain sort of distasteful equality abroad. "Plus ca change..."

Christina

I'm surprised they have that much money, most Chinese are still pretty poor. And going to paris from China must be really expensive.

They stay in the 10th because there is a large Asian community there and out of custom, that's where other Chinese tourists have done. It's just what those companies are used to and know, this is typical of other nationalities also, when traveling. A lot of Japanese seem to be in the area between Palais Royale and the Opera.