Travel with civilization and enjoy the beauty of the journey
2024-08-17
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Nowadays, it is not surprising to see Chinese signs abroad: huge Chinese welcome slogans and Chinese billboards everywhere make people feel familiar, as if they are still in China.
Some of these signs are clear and provide directions for the trip; some, although not accurately translated, allow people to feel the fun and feel a sincere welcome. However, there is one type of sign that makes people exclaim: "I feel offended!"
Recently, a netizen posted that when she traveled to Jeju Island, South Korea, she found many Chinese slogans in the toilets. For example, "Don't squat on the toilet" and "Throw used paper into the trash can"... She felt that although these slogans were reminders of uncivilized behavior, they were only in Chinese and were obviously written for Chinese people.
In addition, many people have encountered similar situations. On the window of a cafe in Israel, it is written in Chinese: "Dear friends: The toilets in this cafe are provided for a fee" "Attention: Friends, the toilet is 1 shekel (1 Israeli new shekel ≈ 1.9285 RMB) per person, pay at the front desk, thank you!" In the toilet of a park in the United States, there is a notice written only in Chinese: "Use the toilet for urination and defecation"...
Of course, we cannot criticize Chinese tourists for being uncivilized because there are many Chinese tourists. Using Chinese signs can make it easier for Chinese tourists to understand. Moreover, uncivilized tourist behavior does not only happen to Chinese tourists. Not long ago, an Indian blogger came to China for a tour and directly snatched a shared bicycle that someone else had already scanned and unlocked; tourists from a certain East Asian country held a party late at night, making loud noises and disturbing the rest of the people around them.
What we are against is uncivilized behavior itself, not tourists from a certain country. However, these slogans remind everyone: enjoy the beauty of the journey, and don't forget to be civilized. This is not only a respect for the locals, but also makes your experience better. It should be our attitude, but also a responsibility.
What should we do for civilized tourism? Not littering, not destroying flowers and plants, and practicing "leaving no trace" is one of the simplest and most direct ways. Beautiful natural scenery is a treasure given to us by nature. We must protect it with practical actions so that the beauty of nature can continue. At the same time, we must also pay attention to protecting cultural relics and monuments, not carving words on them, not climbing and touching them, and not using flash photography to avoid damaging the surface of cultural relics.
There are also many times when uncivilized behavior is not intentional, but happens inadvertently. An Australian international student shared that there was a reminder written only in Chinese on his campus that said "Teaching area, please do not enter." The campus of this student's school has no walls and is completely open. Tourists often come to visit. At the end of the semester not long ago, exams for various subjects began one after another. At this time and place that requires quietness, visiting tourists not only kept making noise outside the classroom, but some even pushed the door open and said while shooting videos: "Look, these are students from foreign universities!" These behaviors seriously affected the normal teaching order.
In order to reduce the occurrence of such incidents, the school once set up English signs asking tourists to keep quiet and stay away from the teaching area, but the effect was not significant. Since many tourists are from China, considering that some people may not understand English, the school later changed the signs to Chinese to make it easier for everyone to understand.
In fact, if the school is replaced with a public scenic spot, whether taking photos or talking, in most cases, it will not affect the normal life of local people. However, in different places and situations, we should pay attention to the applicability of different behaviors.
Lack of understanding of local customs and habits may also lead to uncivilized behavior. In recent years, most places in China have stopped paying for toilets, so many people use the toilet in this cafe in Israel without paying, probably not to escape the bill, but because they don't know that the toilet is provided for a fee. Every land has its own unique culture and customs. As tourists, we should be open-minded, understand local customs in advance, and accept these differences.
More often than not, we may not be able to remember every local tradition and custom, but we should treat others with respect and put ourselves in their shoes. Even if we offend others, we can always find a solution if we treat them sincerely. For example, when taking photos, we should not occupy the check-in point for too long, making other people who want to take photos wait too long; when viewing cultural relics up close, try to avoid blocking other people's sight; do not yell in public...
Sometimes, a little more thought before action can be a big step towards civilized travel.
Li DanpingSource: China Youth Daily
(Source: China Youth Daily)
