Some American tourists seem to have the attitude that American culture is objectively correct and that the rest of the world is essentially a theme park with bad service. The "USA, USA, USA" attitude doesn't travel well. It's an attitude that quickly melts away after real immersion in a foreign culture, but unfortunately many Americans don't have that luxury.
It isn't a new problem - see this wonderful 1943 training film for American troops being stationed in Britain:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/10/07/commentary/wo...
https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/08/why-are-ch...
http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/chinese-tourism-impact/ind...
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1671504/rude-awakenin...
It's not just hand-wavvy the same the same thing. Of course the title for who has the least bad manners isn't one to brag about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBCLXZmMQNs
Children peeing and pooping on the floor on airlines (while being supervised by their parents)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT0kj1AWSfc
Absolutely no shame. In some cases, you literally have to alter your society once Chinese tourists start to come in significant numbers, they are simply incompatible with many modern norms.
Historically, because the oldest bookstore which called "新华书店“ in China is state-owned, they do not have the right to drive the customers away just because they can not buy the books. On the other hand, during that time(1940s), more than 85% of the population are illiterate, so the goverment encouraged people to read in the bookstore and deliberately pulled the price of books. Economically, because the bookstore in China is a collection of various other business projects, such as Tea bars, coffee shops, Stationery shops and so on(you can find these in the veido), so a large number of customer flows will generate huge business benefits. In fact, many bookstores in the UK also allow customers to do so. These are the reasons why this 'porblem' happend in China. I suggest you, please do a little investigation before making a rash judgment
"types of behavior that would be unthinkable anywhere else is absolutely normal in China."
I wonder what the store looks like at the end of the day, do you think all the books are back in their places? Or, maybe just 3 or 4 have to be reshelved? :)
I find it more interesting to try and understand the behavior than only criticize it.
While the Chinese tourists may be loud and assertive, Western tourists have have a colonial attitude and like to get into fights as well.
I've seen them yell at poor waiters because they couldn't understand English. You would think their follow countrymen would say something but instead they jeered along. Insulting them and making "ching-chong" noises (despite the fact that they were in SE Asia and their language is completely different than Chinese).
Oh, reminds me of this article:
Why BUY movies in the US when you can download them for FREE!
https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/piracy-survey-consumer...
I think this goes a long ways to explaining why they are the way they are, types of behavior that would be unthinkable anywhere else is absolutely normal...
It is true. There definitely is a stereotype that we are loud, obnoxious, etc. Everything people have been saying about the chinese tourist, people have been saying about americans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_American_(pejorative)
But the chinese seem to be taking it to another level.
I don't think that behavior is "unthinkable" outside China at all. Plenty of Americans read books in book stores. In fact, some bookstores even encourage that behavior by installing comfy chairs, couches, or coffee bars.
I'm sorry this is simply not true and I'd argue this well meaning anti-racist-to-the-point-of-delusion attitude that has been drilled into the heads of Westerners is part of the problem of why China as a nation hasn't made more serious efforts to teach its citizenry the very basics of common courtesy.
I've been in airport immigration queues and watched numerous different Chinese people blatantly (there isn't a strong enough word to fully describe the magnitude) cut into every single line they could....if there was the slightest of gaps, a Chinese person would be jumping into it, completely oblivious (or not, I'm suspicious) to the rude stares of others who are politely queuing. And I won't even get into volume of speaking, driving habits, adherence to laws related to fraud, etc.
One would think their fellow countrymen who know better would say something (if I saw a Canadian pulling this stunt he'd get a severe public shaming from me), but once again most Westerners would probably disagree with this, as the very notion of groups having a social responsibility for "policing themselves" is also considered "racist", as is even noticing blatantly obvious patterns in objective reality.
EDIT: Reminded me of this video:
Why BUY books in CHINA when you can read them for FREE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=950PYt9d1Po
I think this goes a long ways to explaining why they are the way they are, types of behavior that would be unthinkable anywhere else is absolutely normal in China.