Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand Are Fed Up! Chinese Tourists Clash With Locals Almost Daily

The seafood was still steaming when it hit the tables at a marathon aid station. Onlookers rushed in and grabbed it from trays and tables. The scene quickly turned chaotic. It happened at a well-known marathon in Yantai, in China's Shandong province. The organizers prepared seafood to reward the runners. This This included 11,000 pounds of scallops, 1,650 pounds of black clams, and 1,100 pounds of menzi, A signature Yantai seafood specialty. These were all freshly steamed and cooked on site in large pots. As soon as the seafood was served, a crowd of onlookers, including older women, rushed to grab it. People reached for the food with their bare hands while it was still piping hot. In the crush, a serving table collapsed and broke. By the time many runners crossed the finish line, all they found were broken shells on the ground. The crowd had packed up and taken all the seafood meant for them. A member of the organizing committee later told the media how hard it was to control the crowd. There was no way to manage it. The food hadn't even come out of the big pot, and people were already grabbing it, even if they might get burned. They said, it happens every year. No matter how many guards we bring in, we can't control these women. People on Weibo called the scene outrageous and said it made a mockery of China's reputation for good manners. Others said once the damage was done, no amount of money could repair the country's image. Another person said the lavish spread was hard to square with reports of tight local budgets. They wondered how much money organizers were making from marathons. The scramble for seafood drew some laughs. Another incident had a more serious outcome. On November 2nd, a fight broke out in Jiuzhaigou, a popular tourist spot in Sichuan province. A young man and woman apparently tried to stop an older couple from cutting in line. The older man got angry and struck both of them. Video shows a crowd packed onto a viewing platform, overlooking a lake at Jiuzhaigou. An older man in a baseball cap and blue jacket repeatedly punches a younger man in the face and strikes him with his elbow. The younger man backs away without fighting back. One visitor reacted in disbelief. This guy's lost it. Another clip shows a young woman in a white jacket grimacing as she wipes blood from her face with a tissue. The young man's face was bruised and swollen, and his mouth was bleeding. He shouted at the older man who hit him. Don't go! Don't leave. Don't go. Look what you did to us. Don't leave. Other visitors stopped in to stop the older man from leaving. The younger man then called the police. On November 3rd, Jiuzhaigou County Police said the fight began over taking photos. They identified the older tourists as Xue, age 62, and his companion Zhang, 58. Both were from Shanxi. The younger tourists were Zhao, 27, from Beijing, and Li, 26, from Guangdong. Zhao, Li, and Xue were injured. Police said all three were treated and none had serious injuries. The attack drew widespread criticism online in China. Some called for tough punishment and said some older people Act as if rules don't apply to them. Others said getting older doesn't change a person's character. One person complained that older people live on social security, funded by younger workers, and have plenty of energy but little to do. Some people online called the attacker an old Red Guard. They were referring to the generation that grew up under the Chinese Communist Party's Cultural Revolution. The party launched that political campaign, which tore apart Chinese traditions and undermined long-held moral values. In recent years, many people from mainland China have come to Hong Kong to live, work, or visit. Some residents have grown frustrated with visitors' conduct. The Chinese Communist Party's long campaign to promote atheism has shaped attitudes in mainland China. A tourist from mainland China got into an argument at a Starbucks near Mong Kok's subway station in Hong Kong. He had brought in food from elsewhere, and an employee asked him to stop eating it. Back off, back off. Is this okay? We don't allow outside food here. This is Starbucks. You can only have food and drinks from Starbucks in here. But I ordered one of your Starbucks drinks. That doesn't mean you can eat outside food here. We really don't allow it. That sounds like a pretty unfair rule to me. Is this a Starbucks rule or a government rule? It's your own rule, right? Yes, that's right. It's a Starbucks policy. What's your employee ID number? I don't have an employee ID number. You could call me Toto. Toto, right? Which store is this? This is Starbucks. Which Starbucks is this exactly? The bank center location. I've already eaten half of it. I can't just put it away. Then throw it out for me. Go on. I dare you. You can leave it here. We can clear it away after you go. You can't just eat it in the store. Then I'll sit here and watch you throw it away. I'm not going to touch your things. My job is to tell you that you can't eat it here. Starbucks stores in Taiwan and Hong Kong ban customers from eating outside food on premises. In mainland China, stores ask customers to avoid bringing in strong-smelling food, and the policy is advisory. The concern is that some customers would openly challenge a strict ban, leaving store operators to let it slide. The tourist finally lost his temper and asked the employee if he still wanted customers. He sat with his legs crossed throughout the exchange and spoke defiantly. The employee could barely keep from laughing. The tourist posted a video online where it drew ridicule. One person said his behavior was giving others a reason to look down on Chinese people. A commentator from Hong Kong said it was satisfying to watch. Arguments between people from mainland China and Hong Kong play out daily. Disputes often start over local rules or basic courtesies, especially cutting in line. Some visitors refuse to admit fault when residents call them out. Several mainland tourists boarded a bus in Hong Kong with a wheelchair. They left it unsecured and blocking the aisle. The driver told him to secure it, but they ignored him and started arguing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Give me my money back and I'll get off. I just paid my fare. Give it back and I'll get off, okay? Who put you in charge? Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? You're holding everyone up, okay? Are you going to hit someone? A passenger from Hong Kong noticed the driver struggled with Mandarin and stepped in to explain that the wheelchair had to be secured. The mainland tourists shouted insults at the passenger. They also demanded a refund in yuan and said that the bus was poorly designed. One person in Hong Kong said drivers should pull over and tell passengers who behave this way to get off. If they become aggressive, the person said, police should arrest them and send them back to mainland China. Travel abroad has become routine for Chinese tourists in recent years, and disputes have become more frequent. A Chinese couple boarded a flight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 25th. They hadn't paid to choose seats, so the system assigned them seats apart. When a woman saw an empty seat beside her husband, she took it. A flight attendant told her she had to pay for the seat or return to her assigned one. And she lost her temper. I remember. My husband was sitting there, so I wanted to sit with him. The seat was empty, so I moved over. But he told me I was breaking their law by sitting there. Right. There are six of us traveling together. Why should we have to pay to sit together? The woman shouted that she only wanted to sit with her husband and accused the airline of giving her a hard time on purpose. Her friends and relatives backed her up. They challenged the fee for seating all six together And asked if they were singled out because they were Chinese. Do you even know what happened before this? The group grew louder and refused to cooperate. The captain called security, but that failed to resolve the dispute. For safety, the captain ordered everyone off the plane with their carry-on bags. Passengers had to return to the terminal and go through security again. The flight was badly delayed. Many passengers complained as they packed up, calling the group selfish. The incident drew widespread attention online. Some people said Chinese travelers were making things harder for their fellow passengers from China. Others said the group had embarrassed Chinese people abroad, even though many Chinese travelers behave respectfully. One person said many travelers from China ignore laws and local rules abroad. They linked that behavior to years of restricted access to information and what they called indoctrination during nine years of compulsory schooling. They said growing up with such a different view of the world can distort values. One person from Taiwan said the incident was embarrassing and expressed relief at being Taiwanese. Some Chinese tourists have gotten into disputes with people from countries they visit. In Thailand, arguments with locals sometimes turn into fights. I'm going to stand up for myself here in Thailand. My friend bought 10 packs of cigarettes at 7-Eleven, but they charged us for 15. Now all eight of us are going back to argue with them in our broken English. Let's go. I stormed into that convenience store, ready for a fight. I wasn't about to let them push him around because we're Chinese. As soon as I told him, he started looking nervous and glanced at the other employees. They didn't even check the security footage. They just gave us five more packs. The Chinese woman later posted a video about the incident. I thought about it today, and I'm 100% sure they do this all the time. Say we remembered it wrong and really bought 15 packs, but thought we bought 10. They'd be out of the cost of those five packs, but they handed over five packs without checking the security footage or even thinking about it. That tells me they do it all the time. I've seen posts saying plenty of 7-Eleven stores in Thailand and South Korea ring up several times what people actually bought. Watch what they charge you when you travel abroad, or you could be next. One person online said the group went in looking for a fight. The women believed they had ordered 10 packs, and the clerk at the 7-Eleven in Thailand had deliberately charged them for 15. They stormed in and glared at the clerk. The clerk simply gave them five packs, and they left. The commenter found the contrast funny and embarrassing. Mr. Lee, who is Chinese and lived in Thailand for 10 years, said he found Thai people generally kind. He contrasted them with young Chinese nationalists shaped by the Chinese Communist Party, who are more calculating. He said the 7-Eleven clerk may have simply miscounted and handed over five packs to avoid a confrontation. Lee said customers have every right to ask about a mistake and criticized the group for turning the dispute into a confrontation. A dispute over a 150 baht fee at a public restroom in Thailand turned into a street fight. It involved five Chinese tourists and two restroom attendants. Police took them all to the station. It happened at a night market restroom at the Thai resort city of Pattaya at around 11.15pm on October 30th. Nadakan, age 30, was on duty with his co-worker Krista Dawood when five Chinese men came in. After they left, Nadakan found urine on the floor, an unflushed toilet, and footprints on the toilet seat. Nadakan said the restroom charges a 150 baht cleaning fee if users leave a mess. He stopped the men and asked them to look at the condition of the restroom. He said one of the men pushed him against a wall and a fight broke out. Nadakan said the fight spilled outside. He said about About seven or eight Chinese men got involved and several attacked. him and his co-worker. Kritsadaud then pulled out a BB gun and struck the men in the head with a grip, injuring two of them. Security guards from nearby entertainment venues and people at the scene broke up the fight and called the police. Officers took five Chinese men and two Thai attendants to the police station and seized the gun. Police found that the BB gun had been modified to fire live ammunition. The Thai man who carried it faced firearm charges in addition to his involvement in He was later released on bail. Thai media reported that police questioned the five men on suspicion of fighting in public and then fined them. Public restroom conditions in China have drawn criticism. Kitty Zakaria, who briefly served as a White House spokesperson, recalled living in China in an interview last month. She said that in 2016, many people thought China would soon overtake the United States. She had just returned from China and doubted it would become the next rising power, pointing to the poor condition of its restrooms. Public restrooms can show how people care for shared spaces. In China, political campaigns under the CCP eroded long-held moral values and habits around cleanliness. Over the decades, public spitting and littering became common, drawing complaints from people in other countries. Large numbers of Chinese tourists visited South Korea during this year's October National Day holiday. A Japanese outlet filmed signs in Seoul's Hanok Village, asking visitors to keep their voices down and observe visiting hours. The signs were in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese. Chinese tourists could still be heard speaking loudly in the streets. Several South Korean residents complained in interviews that some Chinese tourists were loud and rude and stuffed trash out of sight in gaps around doors. One resident said the worst part was people relieving themselves in dead-end alleys. Footage shows discarded paper and snack wrappers stuffed into corners of buildings in Hanok Village. Some Chinese tourists sat on the steps of private homes. Some posed for photos at residents' front doors, disrupting daily life Amid tensions between Japan and China, Fewer Chinese tourists traveled to Japan during few people have been able to get to know each other. this year's National Day holiday. Many chose South Korea instead. One person in Japan expressed sympathy for South Korea and welcomed the drop in Chinese visitors to Japan. On October 29th, a Japanese TV station reported on a group that traveled to Japan to steal. A 36-year-old Chinese man entered Japan in June on a short-term visa. In August, he stole a young woman's wallet containing 15,000 yen on a train in Tokyo. It was his second arrest for theft. An accomplice was staying at the same hotel and was also charged. The man had entered Japan with a friend who was a pickpocket. They planned to sightsee and steal Still along the way. One person joked that this gave budget travel a whole new meaning. Misconduct by tourists can disrupt life for local residents. Suspected spying, potentially backed by the Chinese Communist Party, raises national security concerns. On November 2nd, the Chinese embassy in Sweden said on WeChat that members of an official Chinese delegation had inadvertently photographed sensitive sites and personnel during a visit. Swedish police detained them, disrupting the rest of the trip. The embassy urged Chinese visitors to watch for signs barring entry or photography. It told them to avoid entering or photographing protected sites, including government offices, law enforcement sites, Military facilities, airport customs areas, and areas around them. Swedish newspaper Expressen reported on November 2nd that a district court had ordered a Chinese man held on suspicion of illegally photographing protected sites in Stockholm. He photographed a Swedish defense research facility on October 29th and the Swedish Armed Forces headquarters on October 30th. The paper said the man described himself as a tourist on a guided tour who took photos because he liked the buildings. He said he hadn't noticed or understood the signs barring photography because he spoke very little English and no Swedish. While waiting for the police, he used AI to translate the signs. The man denied the allegations. Prosecutors asked the court to keep him in custody, saying he might flee. A Chinese-speaking commenter on X called the language barrier an excuse and doubted the man could have missed the sign banning photography. Others accused him of spying and said some tourists come with an assignment. In recent years, authorities abroad have frequently arrested, charged, and sometimes sentenced Chinese tourists for photographing sensitive sites, such as military bases, aircraft, airports, and border areas. South Korean police reported several cases of Chinese nationals illegally photographing military sites between 2024 and 2025. In August 2024, two Chinese tourists flew a drone near the Navy's Mobile Fleet Command on Jeju Island and recorded footage inside the naval port. They said they didn't know it was illegal, and prosecutors charged them. In April 2025, authorities detained two Chinese nationals for questioning after they photographed the the inside of Osan Air Base without permission. The U.S. base is in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. In July 2025, military police arrested four Chinese nationals near Tanagra Air Base outside Athens. They were a couple, their son and another man traveling with them. They said they were ordinary tourists. Officers found numerous clear pictures of base infrastructure and warplanes on their phones and cameras. The case was sent to Greece's National Intelligence Service, which began investigating possible espionage. On August 6, 2025, military police arrested two Chinese men on suspicion of entering a restricted area at the Defense Ministry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They used a drone to take aerial footage. Both men were charged. In February 2026, a Chinese tourist was charged with illegally entering Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. The tourist was accused of ignoring signs in simplified Chinese and photographing the base entrance, military personnel, and facilities used by Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25. In June 2026, the Chinese embassy in Sweden said Swedish police had taken Chinese nationals into custody after they photographed sensitive sites while traveling or on visits. The detentions seriously disrupted their plans. Ends.