‘It’s best for them not to come’: mainland Chinese tourists under fire in Taiwan after boy uses public toilet washbasin as bath
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 02 February, 2016, 11:05am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 02 February, 2016, 11:05am
Gloria Chan
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The pictures that prompted the criticism in Taiwan. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Photographs of a group of tourists from mainland China using a washbasin in a public toilet in Taiwan as a bathtub have gone viral on social media, Taiwanese media reported on Monday.
The pictures are the latest example of heavy criticism online about the perceived poor behaviour of some mainland tourists.
The photographs show a boy in his underpants standing on a basin in a public toilet at Kenting’s Nanwan beach while a man and another older boy help him wash his feet and body.
READ MORE: ‘Don’t put your feet in the wash basins,’ Chinese tourists told
Signs warning the public not to put feet in basins in case they break and to only use them for washing hands appear to be ignored by the group.
An internet user posted the photographs on Sunday, with the caption “[You] cannot raise [your] feet, but you can raise a person! It seems mainlanders cannot read traditional Chinese characters,” the news website ET Today reported.
The post immediately attracted comments expressing disbelief and disgust. “Taiwan doesn’t need tourists like this, cut the quota and it’s best for them not to come,” said one. “Such a lack of class!” wrote another.
Some web users, however, were more forgiving. “To be honest, I have seen Taiwanese behaving like this as well,” said one comment on Facebook.
Another said: “Taiwanese are always like this, too. Why read too much into this?”
The response to the pictures online in mainland China was also mixed. “Rubbish...blacklist them, don’t let them travel anywhere,” said a comment on Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter.
READ MORE: Five more Chinese tourists put on blacklist after punch-up, scuffles over airline seat and attack on guide
Another person wrote: “People of different skin colour always use the wash basins in the airport’s transfer area to bathe, what’s so surprising about this?”
The original post on Facebook showing the pictures had been taken down on Tuesday morning.
