Contretemps of Chinese tourists abroad

Chinese tourists keep making news, sometimes for the wrong reason. Thanks to the rapid growth in their numbers, Chinese tourists are ubiquitous in many countries; what has made them even more conspicuous is their propensity to travel in groups.

Chinese tourists, especially independent travelers, are mostly huggable: they usually appear slightly befuddled, unsteady with their language abilities, erring on the side of caution in their effort to avoid causing offence, ever watchful and bashful.

But some of those traveling in groups can be different: they may lack cultural sophistication, feel emboldened in a group, and, given the collective psyche of groups irrespective of which country they belong to, they can misinterpret the world around them and exhibit mob mentality. It doesn't help that in some Asian countries, Chinese tourists are seen as easy targets for scams. Sometimes tour leaders connive in the scam, and media reports say many Chinese tourists have been exorbitantly charged in places like Thailand for stepping on a beach.