Bloomberg reports that "Paris Syndrome" is turning Chinese tourists off of Paris. It sounds like the kind of thing that can happen to some other visitors, too. . .
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-14/the-paris-syndrome-drives-chinese-tourists-away.html
It looks to me that if the want a place like the imaginary Paris, Zürich would be more appropriate :-)
This is a good article for newbie travelers. This type of thing can happen anywhere. People hear and see the extremes whether crime issues or professional, romantic "doctored" images in movies and books. The reality is somewhere in between. People need to know that nearly all societies are modern and have similar issues. "Rude waiters in ...." How about in your own country. "Can't speak English." Why would you expect them to in the first place. What country are you visiting? Also, not every experience during a vacation is going to be a "joy to the world" moment. It's really about realistic expectations. Even RS shows are heavily planned and edited. Example, some of the museum coverage is probably taken during slow season or after hours when there are not throngs of visitors. Plus, the presence of a camera crew alone is sure to have an impact on the response of the locals.
I think they all went to Switzerland last week. :-)
GOOD STAY HOME!
Sorry less tourists make me happy as a tourist! lol
As for the article and the Chinese.. seriously.. complaining about cigarette butts and claiming Paris is dirty.. ever been to China.. they smoke where ever they want.. and they have NO anti pollution laws.. the streets are a mine field of spit and in some places worse substances.
And the way some tourists behave in Paris.. well frankly.. yuck.. loud and pushy!
This is interesting - thanks for posting. On the one hand, people need to learn some basic traveling common sense. However, I can sympathize with the mismatched expectations of first time travelers. When I arrived in London in 1999 for a semester long stay it was very different from what I expected. It was polluted and loud, the people were definitely not friendly, the neo-nazi's bombed 4 neighborhoods between March and May, tensions in minority communities were high due to the bombings and the war in Kosovo (and I was staying in a predominantly Iraqi neighborhood), there were more homeless people than I've ever seen, and it was ridiculously expensive. Had I only been there for 4-5 days I would not have been able to change the narrative from "this place sucks". Having the good fortune to stay for months and work with Londoners in a really interesting job I was able to unpack a lot of what I was seeing and realize that there was so much to learn about the world and much perspective to be gained. On my last week at work my English coworkers took me to the dog track, which was by far my favorite London experience of my four months there. If you had told me that 6 months prior I would not have believed it.
I have since become an avid consumer of English history, music, books, movies, etc. and really embraced the complexities of what I observed that year (as a 20 year old). That said, I have not since returned to England, nor do I have much interest to, but the perspective I gained has been a springboard to extensive travels since.
-Matt
"The Chinese like a “simple smile” and a “hello in their language,” according to the website. "
OK, so the waiter starts saying "ni hao" to every person with East Asian features, but ends up insulting the person because he or she is Korean, Japanese, North American, not Chinese.
Like Kim says, this perception isn't limited to Chinese visitors, and it isn't limited to Paris. We idealize our vacation places and they're never as perfect as we imagined. Including Beijing and Shanghai, where air pollution, street prostitution, and aggressive vendors all gave me a shock. But we travel not just to rest and have fun but to broaden our horizons and learn more about the many different ways of being human.
Meanwhile, as Pat says, they can stay home or spend their money in North America. I hear Victoria is a nice place! ;)
Some travel experiences can be chalked up as funny. My first trip to Europe years ago was to London. We arrive very early in the morning on a Sunday. Can't get our room yet. Leave luggage at BNB and go for a stroll. 6 am is a great time to visit the square in front of National Art Gallery and see Big Ben. The streets are yours! Well, it started raining that morning and I needed a restroom. Only thing open was a McDonald's. So, my very first European site was McD's. My husband and I laughed about it. I still do. Again, it's about realistic expectations. The Movie "Julia and Julie" can give people a false sense of Paris. Paris and the world in general has changed since the 1940's.
This can be true of any tourist, not just the Chinese. My first ride on the RER from CDG to Paris was a little different than I expected as well. It reminded me more of some rough areas I have been to here at home than the Paris I had seen on TV.
This seems pretty fair, to be honest. It's not a Chinese thing. All my French friends think Parisians are assholes, in the same way many Americans stereotype New Yorkers. The big (or in this case, biggest) city in a country, a world class city, is inhabited by the movers and shakers who either have no time for tourists or have entire industries based on fleecing them. The two biggest international tourist cities in the U.S. - New York and San Francisco - are the same way, after all.
Similarly travelers of any origin can find that Paris doesn't live up to their expectations based on decades if not centuries of romanticization. My in-laws expected a Paris straight out of that Woody Allen movie and were disappointed. I went to Paris as someone with almost no interest in the city, or France, or French history, and because of my lack of expectations, partially, I fell in love with it. But I know many, many Americans who did not, who found it crowded and crime-ridden and rude. Maybe because I'm a big city girl at heart these things didn't bother me about it, but I understand that it can and does bother other people.
Anyone who pays attention to and has been in Western and Central Europe in the last five years cannot but help but notice lots of different tourists whom you didn't see in such numbers 30-35 years ago,,, from India, East Asia, Russians (they couldn't leave during the Cold war days). I've seen Mongolians in Berlin in the last couple of years. Realistically, the Indians, Chinese, Koreans, etc, ie, these tourists are going to be seen in Paris, London , Vienna, Germany and in greater numbers.
That waiter saying "ni hao" had better be able to tell the difference between the Chinese from mainland and Taiwan from any other East Asians or North American Chinese since he's presupposing that mere appearance equals comprehension. He'll be in for a surprise.
Did anyone else check out the "Do you speak touriste" site? Wow! Fascinating!
You choose what kind of work you do - restaurant work, taxi driver, whatnot... and then the nationality of the pesky "touristes" you'll be dealing with. There are translations of common types of conversations - "Where's the rest room," or "Do you have this t-shirt in size 8?" It even speaks to you, so you can get a grip on how to pronounce things!
And, as one half of an inter-racial couple, I instantly noticed that if you select "les Americains" as the pesky "touristes" you'll be dealing with, we are represented by a cartoon inter-racial couple! Kind of cool!
I am not wild for Paris and it has nothing to do with the roller-blading police who threw tear gas at some fleeing criminals five feet away from me, honest.
I guess we all have some fantasy about where we're going for the first time, how could we not? I think my expectations were a little high. I loved St-Denis and Ile St-Louis, but the most-photographed and publicized places were a little bit of a letdown.
I just returned from a 2 week trip to Paris and Lucerne. I saw throngs of Chinese tour groups in both cities. This is my personal opinion but I got the vibe that they felt entitled to everyone around them. They all spoke Chinese, their tour leader was Chinese and they would not move if you tried to politely move past them. They try to move in front of you at Tourist spots, they walked between us when taking pictures and were oblivious to everything and everyone but themselves. Politeness goes a long way, give it and you will be treated the same way. If you are rude then don't be surprised when you don't get that warm and fuzzy all over.
"They all spoke Chinese..." Mandarin? I would not expect anything else but that. That they were obvious to anything or anyone else....how true.
Regarding what some posters above have said about false expectations from movies etc. That happened to me when I first went to the United States in 1999. I had been brought up on Hollywood movies and thought I knew pretty much everything about the US even before setting foot there. Anyway I was in Maine for four months on a student exchange and fell in love with the place, and it blew my expectations out of the water and replaced them with genuine, better impressions. I honestly don't know why Maine isn't more well known to European tourists going to America. Maybe the Maine tourist board needs to expand its marketing strategies a little! Then again perhaps Mainers are happy just the way things are. It truly is a beautiful state, especially as I was lucky enough to be there in the autumn.
When I was in Paris last year to write my book I stayed in the 15th arrondissement, near the Eiffel Tower. I remember a lot of Chinese tourists that would eat at a Chinese restaurant around the corner, and they would frequently patronize a grocery store across the street. I remember the Parisians being quite welcoming to the Chinese at the time. I think that in general, Parisians tend to be cold to everyone, including other Parisians, so it should not be a surprise to feel a bit unwelcomed at times. Paris is getting more dangerous, true, so it would be safe to travel in groups, which the Chinese and Japanese tend to do anyway while traveling abroad.
I cannot clearly read the article attached to this link...a giant ad keeps floating over it...but I thought it interesting that I stumbled on this topic elsewhere today, perhaps the NY Times (?) It seems this syndrome was first described in 1986 by Hiroaki Ota, a Japanese psychiatrist living in France and referred to Japanese and their reactions to travel in Paris.
Maybe it´s a combination of culture shock and being homesick. I think people of nations that are so much focussed on their own identity and habits at home can have a problem as they have to adapt themselves to the new environment once arrived at the place of “dreams”. The impression of the destination is likely too much influenced by the specific worldview developed at home and accordingly high expectations, moreover based on a lack of travel experience. As China has isolated itself in many ways literally for ages, I think many has to deal with the “new” world around them they now are discovering in such large numbers. If not able to deal with "reality" at the destination you can become more vulnerable for negative experiences and the journey of your dreams becomes ironically a disappointment.
Lately I have readed an artical in “Spits” (magazine for train passengers in the Netherlands) about the needs here of the raising numbers of Chinese tour groups. To keep their customers satisfied the operators want hotels with Chinese food, Chinese speaking staff, destinations where the waiters speak their language etc., so the travellers can feel a bit at home abroad, so little interest for the backdoor...... But as they are real big spenders, we Dutchies have no problem to be helpfull as always and welcome them ofcourse with a big smile :)
I wonder if having so many demands linguistically could run the risk of wearing out their welcome. Re The big spenders: That question was asked in a newspaper I saw at the end of April in the Pension I stay at in Berlin, don't recall the exact paper's name since the proprietor had different papers lying around at breakfast, Berlin Morgenblatt ? The question posed was " which nationality of tourists spends the most in Berlin?" Given on a pie chart and the list on percentages was the answer...the Chinese. Other runner ups are the Brazilians and Russians. Americans weren't even listed.
On my last trip to Paris it was the "ugly Japanese" everyone was muttering about, now it's the "ugly Chinese." Oh and let's not forget the "ugly Russians." When people start travelling, there's an adjustment period. Now in LA there are entire tour companies set up to cater to Chinese tourists, taking them to restaurants they will like and the outlet malls they live for. Adjust and thrive.
Oh and this article was either cribbed from or rewritten for the NY Times last weekend.
