Don’t Pee In Pools And Other Guidelines For Chinese Tourists

by Reena Ganga on

Picking your nose in public and stealing life jackets might be acceptable behavior in China, but it’ll be frowned upon elsewhere in the world. That’s the advice being doled out to Chinese tourists heading abroad.

The country’s National Tourism Administration put together a 64-page booklet called The Guidebook For Civilized Tourism to teach its citizens the dos and don’ts of respectable travel.

Earlier this year, China’s Vice Premier lamented the fact that rowdy behavior by Chinese tourists was tarnishing the country’s image abroad. The new etiquette guide hopes to curb some of the unruly behavior, such as travelers who pee in public swimming pools or leave footprints on toilet seats when using public restrooms.Some of the other insight offered in the guidebook includes instructions for travelers to avoid picking their teeth with their fingers, to keep the length of their nose hair in check, and to refrain from stealing life jackets from airplanes so that they’ll be available to other travelers in the event of an emergency.

However, while some of the tips reflect common sense and general courteousness, others are harder to pin down the origins of. An example? Chinese tourists are told that when traveling in Spain, they should always wear earrings while out in public. If they don’t, well apparently, it’s as good as being naked.

Photo of the day – Flamenco in motion

by Meg Nesterov on

When you see flamenco, you probably think Spain, but today’s beautiful photo was taken by the prolific Flavio@Flickr near Tel Aviv, Israel. It’s a beautiful image of movement, color, and light; you even get a sense of music. The sensuality and drama of the dance is refreshing to see compared with many of the serious and spiritual shots we often see from Israel travelers.

Captured any great performances recently? Share them with us by adding them to the Gadling group on Flickr and we might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

United plans for new image overhaul

by Katie Hammel on

After coming in last among large airlines in customer satisfaction surveys for two out of the last three years, United Airlines has been overhauling its operations in an effort to increase on-time performance and win back customers. Now the airline is working on the physical appearance of its planes and crew.

Every single one of the airplanes in United’s fleet will be getting a make-over. The grey with black and red stripes interiors (knows within the company as the “tequila sunrise” scheme) will be replaced with blue leather. The 1980’s-era overhead bins will be updated as well. The airline also announced that fashion designer Cynthia Rowley will be creating more stylish, updated crew uniforms.

With a reputation for poor customer service, delays, cancellations, broken guitars, safety violations, and lost luggage, can United really overhaul its image with a few aesthetic updates? Probably not, but airline officials hopes they can continue to address the issues that have led to its poor satisfaction survey rankings and eventually turn things around. Apparently, they just want the airline to look good while they do it.

Photo of the day (5.19.09)

by Grant Martin on


What I wouldn’t give to be on a beach right now, watching seagulls drift around and not wearing pants. jrodmanjr actually took this shot on San Francisco (hence the fog) where the beaches may be less tropical but where the scenery is just as gorgeous. The perfect combination of light, shadows and high shutter speed in this photo add to its magnificence. Nice pic, jrodmanjr.

Got any cool photos that you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day. Make sure you save them under Creative Commons though, otherwise we can’t use them!

Photo of the day (2.17.09)

by Grant Martin on

With that warm spell that swept through much of the country last week, many of us got the false hope that spring was on the way — that we’d soon be walking outside barefoot, chasing cats, jumping from tree to tree and frolicking about. Ah, but Mother Nature is a tempting sorceress, and before we knew it, it was cold and snowy again, especially here in the the Midwest. I look forward to the day that I’ll once again be able to play on the grass, so carefully captured here by Kevin Littleton on flickr.

Perhaps in my travels.

Have any cool photos you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day. Make sure you save them under Creative Commons though, otherwise we can’t use them!