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Personal experience here: all nationalities of tourist are an equally mixed bag of good and bad, except the Chinese, who in my experience are uniformly awful. J
by i_am_nomad 8y ago
Personal experience here: all nationalities of tourist are an equally mixed bag of good and bad, except the Chinese, who in my experience are uniformly awful. Just a visit to Yellowstone shows the constant damage they wreak on the landscape, ignoring signs and rangers, in order to get the perfect photo. Butting in line, spitting, speaking loudly over everyone else... they are intolerable. Which is strange, because every Chinese grad student I’ve ever worked with has been courteous, professional and in many cases, genuinely kind.
Maybe the other tourist nationality outlier is Israelis visiting the US. As far as I have seen, they are the nicest and most grateful tourists ever.
- wavepruner 8y agoMy personal experience while traveling in China is that it is an aggressive, confrontational, blunt, yet very friendly culture. Cutting in line is common. It seems to annoy locals, but also seems like it's kind of light-hearted game for everyone. Grandmas get carte blanche to cut as they please, and if you get in their way they will hit you, but it's a grandma so it doesn't hurt and is quite funny the first time it happens. Jay walking is rampant except at intersections that are staffed with numerous traffic police. If you're fat, people will comment on your fatness while getting to know you for the first time. This is not meant to be offensive. Likewise if you're skinny, bald, old, etc. There is an odd mix of authoritarian rule obsessed workers and then many who break the rules any chance they get. They are extremely friendly and interested in a lot of foreigners. Chinese strangers would buy me food and translate for me without me even asking.
- BerislavLopac 8y ago> Jay walking is rampant In some countries (don't know about China) the concept of "jaywalking" doesn't even exist.
- stuaxo 8y agoMost countries even. Where is it a thing outside the US?
- skocznymroczny 8y agoIn Poland for example. You are not allowed to cross the road if there is a pedestrian crossing within 100m range. Also, you can get fined for crossing the street on red light even if the street is completely empty of traffic.
- Splognosticus 7y agoI remember reading that technically jaywalking is not illegal in the U.S. either. You just will almost certainly die is all.
- lotsofpulp 8y agoSingapore at least.
- dunefox 8y agoAny country that has street lights for pedestrians? In Germany, you get fined.
- Escapado 8y agoGerman (from Hamburg) here. We jaywalk all the time. Of course if there is heavy traffic then people usually go to the next traffic light as it will be faster but in my almost 30 years I have heard of maybe 1 incident where the police actually stopped a friend of mine. They didn't issue a fine and let him off with a warning.
- muzani 8y agoI think a lot of cultures have this inverted side, like how Japan is both serious/stoic, yet has silly media culture. Grow up in an authoritarian shadow and they kind of enjoy breaking unwritten rules. I've had some similar experiences in Saudi Arabia. People are very friendly, but at the same time very aggressive. They'll corner you, block your way, and shout in your face like a drill sergeant, but it's all playful. They won't touch you and they mean no harm.
- whttheuuu 8y agoFrom my experience Israelis are extremely rude.
- FerretFred 8y agoFrom personal experience they seem to be particularly prone to spitting and clearing their nostrils on the street. I'm sure it's common cultural practice in China but it's not appreciated in the UK.