We can take some solace from the fact that travelers from emerging economies are often criticized. Everyone from the British to the Japanese to the Americans have taken their fair share of abuse. Now it's our turn.

In fact, some Western media have compared Chinese tourists with the so-called "ugly Americans". There are a fair number of websites telling the Americans how to avoid being "ugly Americans", including http://hubpages.com/hub/, which lists 10 things American travelers overseas should avoid doing.

In our case, the problem is compounded because our population is so huge. According to the China Tourism Academy, more than 210 million Chinese will be traveling domestically this year, while package tours to the US, Japan, Canada and several other countries are fully booked for the Mid-Autumn Festival starting on Sept 22 and National Day holiday week starting on Oct 1.

The consequences of bad behavior are multiplied as far as we Chinese are concerned. No wonder the blueprint for national tourism development released earlier this year goes well beyond the guidelines issued by the National Tourism Administration four years ago.

The new plan highlights the need not only to promote "healthy, civilized and green" tourism, but also to "increase knowledge, broaden the vision, and cultivate noble thoughts and sentiment" during our travels.

It even suggests that Chinese traveling overseas become "envoys of Chinese civilization". This may be too lofty a task for many Chinese travelers, who only want to relax, have fun and do some shopping.

As tourists, however, we must learn to respect other cultures and people, especially the people who serve us.

Of the 10 pointers offered by http://hubpages.com, I think at least three apply to us Chinese:

"Stop talking about how 'cheap' everything is";

"Stop talking so damned loud"; and

"Read something about the country you're visiting before you get on the plane".

The author is Assistant Editor-in-Chief of China Daily and can be reached at lixing@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 09/16/2010 page8)