New rules laid out for tour guides

Liu Simin, vice-president of tourism at the Beijing-based China Society for Future Studies, said the new rules are a detailed and updated version of a series of regulations issued in 2001.

The 2001 regulations listed some prohibited behaviors, and guides who were found in violation would have points deducted from their annual scores.

Guide services start with 10 points each year. Points are required to maintain a license, so if all 10 are lost, the guide service is shut down.

"The new rules describe situations beyond what were in the 2001 regulations, and cover circumstances in which a tour guide would be in violation - and punishments are laid out in detail," Liu said, noting that some of the examples reflect situations that have been reported domestically in recent years.

In 2015 and 2016, many media reports appeared about misbehaving tour guides at popular destinations.

Forced shopping, verbal abuse of clients and even abandoning clients halfway through a tour were among the misdeeds.

"Against that backdrop, the new rules are more informative and accurate than the 2001 regulations," Liu said. "They tell the guides which specific behaviors they should avoid."