During the National Day holiday, a series of themed activities were held in Yunnan to encourage civilized tourism.

“I think that I am a tourist with good behavior since I respect the local culture and protect the environment and cultural relics. What I didn’t do quite well was that I didn’t dissuade other tourists’ bad manners,” said Liu Qiang, a tourist from Changsha, Hunan province.

In regard to the tourism departments in Yunnan, scenic spots management has also been improved. In Lijiang ancient town, more than 280 varieties of chrysanthemum flowers with a total of 50,000 pots were moved to the old town. Those flowers dressed up the old town, and visitors enjoyed traveling through the flowers. Actions were taken to improve the tourism service and tourist safety. Also, Lijiang’s tourism departments set four information desks in the city to help tourists.

In Tengchong county, reminders of civilized tourism were posted in the entrance of scenic spots to remind tourists to improve their behavior. Reminder brochures were also displayed in Ruili’s hotels for visits to read.

“Most tourists in my group behave quite well. One of my customers is a heavy smoker but the customer always asks me whether or not the scenic spot allows smoking politely,” said Wang Xiaojun, a tour guide who works in Dali.

“Tour guides should also lead tourists to behave well, and it is a tour guide’s responsibility to remind tourists of their bad behavior,” Wang added.

Yang Xiuhua owns a dumpling restaurant in the Hekou Yao autonomous county. During Golden Week, Yang found that new parking lines were marked in front of the shops along the street. The parking lines enabled the vehicles to park in a more orderly manner.

By Ge Jieru and edited by Michael Thai