PRC Tourists Make Bad Travellers

Yesterday I watched a video of a Thai celebrity, Duangjai Phichitamphon, ranting about Chinese tourists at Jeju International Airport. The video shows hoards of PRC tourists crowding and pushing their way to the front of the counter.

Ugrh! So typical of them!

Having been around PRC tourists when abroad and also having lived around more of them in Singapore lately, I completely understand her frustration. Although towards the end of the video, when she starts to get more angry, it's a bit off putting because I guess it's the Thai language which tends to sound quite crass when spoken loudly.

I have 3 neighbouring units on my floor (Those 3 are rented units, the owners don't live in them, so the tenants tend to change every year or two). Right now, 2 out of those 3 are PRC occupied. The third is rented by some white guy. The PRC woman right next to me has a humongous shoe cabinet outside her apartment. And it's not exactly a shoe cabinet lah, more of a cupboard, it's as high as my shoulders. The passageway to the lift is already quite narrow, I think it's very inconsiderate of her to place that cabinet there.... in front of my doorway. The condo management did send out memos to residents last year saying no bulky items in corridors (the clutter can be a fire hazard I guess). But she just ignored it.

David doesn't seem to mind it. He bumped into the landlord of that unit one day, and the landlord mentioned something about aiyah why the tenant put such a big cabinet there... and David said it's ok, doesn't bother us. But it does bother me (ok, only when I'm passing by it to get to the lifts.. not like it's bothering me 24-7 lah), because it's blocking half the corridor, ugly and should be inside her apartment.

But on the whole, other than that cabinet, our China neighbours have been ok to live across from. Have you got any PRC neighbours? What are they like?

 

When travelling, I dread being around PRC tourists (especially in big groups), it's perhaps as bad as (or worse than) having a cranky baby sit near you in the plane. They can be loud, they don't know how to queue, don't have basic toilet etiquette and hygiene. Plus recently. I've read about them opening emergency doors on the airplanes *WTF*, chasing penguins in Antartica, manhandling a wild dolphin for some nice photos (and killed it because its lung collapsed) and having their children pee and shit in public places, like the streets, food courts and airplane aisles instead of taking them to the toilets. Ewww.

I think the shitty experiences I've had when travelling is that they have no concept of queuing. Doesn't matter if you've been queuing in an orderly manner for some time... when they arrive, they will just push past you. Then, the second time I was in Hong Kong with my brother, we had a flight early the next morning during rush hour, so I booked a taxi in advance to take us to the airport.

It was cold, but instead of waiting in the lobby, I waited outside the hotel for the taxi, because I really didn't want to miss the taxi. There was no way you could flag one down at that time. Of course, there were some PRC men (I think there for business/work) outside the hotel, trying to flag taxis.

Then I saw mine approaching. I identified it from the license plate number and it had a sign clearly displayed to say it was booked (I can't remember the sign, probably said On Call or something). Then these 2 asshole PRC men rushed towards my cab like a pair of monkeys. I heard one of them men say in Mandarin - that cab is on call. And his friend said- nevermind, just take it.

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. bloody assholes. Luckily I was waiting outside for the cab (even though the concierge said I can wait in the warmth and when the cab arrives, he will let me know). I too had to rush towards the cab like a monkey so I could stop them from stealing my ride. Told them in a panicked and shouty manner that I had booked that cab. Luckily they backed away with an embarrassed look on their faces... because if not, I was prepared to kick them. lol. Normally I'm not so kiasu one, but I really needed to get to the airport on time.

So I generally have not had good experiences with PRCs. My husband thinks they are fine though. He's been to mainland China once and they were all very pleasant according to him. And when I was in Hong Kong with him, it was his first time there and I pre-warned him about the mainland Chinese tourists there... but that trip, we didn't come across that many of them. Don't know why. So was pretty pleasant throughout. I think I was only pushed once, by this Chinese woman who shoved me pretty hard in my back as she rushed to join her friends ahead of the queue. This was the queue for the tram at Victoria Peak. Wah lau, relax lah, why must push until so hard. Her water bottle dropped at my feet when she pushed past me. I was so shocked by the hard shove, I didn't do anything, just watched her pick it up and carry on. In retrospect, I should have kicked her water bottle far away so she would have to go retrieve it. Haaha.  Yeah, but she pushed me, didn't push my husband instead, so he still has the impression that China tourists are ok.

What have your experiences with PRC tourists been like?