Uncivilized behavior is becoming a real embarrassment for Beijing ahead of
the 2008 Olympics.
Beijing's ambition to open more parks free of charge to the public has simply
added more venues for some visitors to display their uncouth behavior.
Last month, more than ten parks were added to the free parks list, bringing
the number of free parks to 123.
Several foreign visitors left Ritan Park disappointed on Sunday afternoon
because they could not find a place to sit - all the benches in the park were
taken up by men lying full-length, blissfully snoring the afternoon away. Ritan
Park is a popular park in the Beijing embassy area.
The Beijing government has launched a campaign to promote civility among
Chinese travelers as a response to negative publicity garnered by Chinese
tourists' behavior overseas. The campaign will last until after the Olympic
Games.
"We celebrated the two year countdown to the Olympics just a couple of days
ago and the TV and newspapers are all talking about civilized behavior, but look
at this," said an old man who is a regular visitor to Chaoyang Park.
He was upset to see Chinese visitors at the park standing on relics taking
pictures. "There are so many foreigners here and we are losing face," he said.
Carving names, spitting, talking loudly and random littering are common
scenes in Beijing parks.
"We've seen more people carving their name since the park abandoned admission
fees," a worker in Honglingjin Park was quoted as saying by China Youth Daily.
"We cannot be there to monitor visitors all the time. They have to discipline
their own behavior."
The official campaign, launched after "gathering public input on how
travelers should behave", was based on guidelines drafted by "expert groups" and
Party and governmental departments.
Civil servants and state company executives will be specifically targeted for
training, while the general public will be educated via the mass media and
through pamphlets distributed at public transport stations, hotels, travel
agencies, tourist spots, schools and work places.
In addition to 250,000 foreign tourists, China expects that over two million
domestic tourists will visit Beijing during the Games.
