Are Mainland Chinese Tourists Better Off Visiting Taiwan Than Hong Kong (life, 2013)
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I just wanted to get people's opinions on if the mainland Chinese tourists are better going to Taiwan to visit than Hong Kong?
I am well aware of the conflicts between the mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers in terms of cultural and political and even linguistics as well from seeing the youtube videos.
The mainland Chinese are often termed as being rude, loud, make a mess, fighting over lines or seats or eating in trains, which by policy is never allowed in Hong Kong. Linguistic differences are also a big factor as well because it causes even more tension when they cannot understand each other.
I know that even in Taiwan when the mainland Chinese go there, similar conflicts do happen as well with the Taiwanese because Taiwan and Hong Kong have more westernized values and more developed.
However, it seems it does not get as crazy in Taiwan like in Hong Kong and maybe because they all speak Mandarin, it is easier to communicate lessening the chances of conflict.
I wanted to know what others think.
Are the mainland Chinese better off going to Taiwan as tourist than Hong Kong or is it all the same? I wanted to see if anyone can give their opinions on this.
If you don't like some people, you will always pay attention to their negative aspects.
In mainland cities, it's very rare to see people eat in subway trains, for example. When that happens, we just think there is an unpleasant person and forget about him next minute. If it happens in Hong Kong, however, they make a huge deal about it and generalize that to all mainland Chinese and politics....
Last edited by Bettafish; 01-17-2017 at 10:05 PM..
Maybe. Locals usually don't treat Chinese tourists poorly, though there were horrible incidents, such as the bus burning tragedy last year. I also remember that in 2015 or something there were some Chinese tourists who got assaulted on the train. I think that's it.
Both cases are independent and they happened because the perpetrators belonged to the psych house, not because of nationalism or whatnot.
In fact, the most common response you hear from Chinese tourists who've been here is that the people are nice and the services are good.
Better off for whom? Taiwan might be "better", just because there are fewer mainland Chinese tourists there than Hong Kong. Also, there are fewer mainland tourists in Taiwan now after Pres Tsai's victory, and IMHO, it's better that way.
Problem with mainland Chinese tourists is their numbers. They can easily inundate their chosen destination. When a place has "favorable" status, the number of tourists often cannot accommodate them properly without significant increase in number of hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. But when the status switches to "unfavorable", these businesses will most likely go out of business as their number of customers significantly dropped. Such has happened to Hong Kong several times. There are so many jewelry stores focused on mainland Chinese customers that they are almost as common as convenience stores. Then Hong Kong people protests against Beijing, and these stores no longer have that many customers anymore and several branches might close down soon. Hong Kong probably cannot do anything except accept this faith, whereas Taiwanese businesses can choose not to be so dependent on Chinese tourists.
The other problem also due to their being so numerous is there are the educated and respectful tourists, but the sheer number suggests there are many more who come from the provincial towns, less educated and have more uncouth behavior. I have experienced queue jumping and other such unpleasant behavior from Chinese tourists, both in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Less tourists from China in either places will be ideal for me, but might not be for some businesses there.
Better off for whom? Taiwan might be "better", just because there are fewer mainland Chinese tourists there than Hong Kong. Also, there are fewer mainland tourists in Taiwan now after Pres Tsai's victory, and IMHO, it's better that way.
Problem with mainland Chinese tourists is their numbers. They can easily inundate their chosen destination. When a place has "favorable" status, the number of tourists often cannot accommodate them properly without significant increase in number of hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. But when the status switches to "unfavorable", these businesses will most likely go out of business as their number of customers significantly dropped. Such has happened to Hong Kong several times. There are so many jewelry stores focused on mainland Chinese customers that they are almost as common as convenience stores. Then Hong Kong people protests against Beijing, and these stores no longer have that many customers anymore and several branches might close down soon. Hong Kong probably cannot do anything except accept this faith, whereas Taiwanese businesses can choose not to be so dependent on Chinese tourists.
The other problem also due to their being so numerous is there are the educated and respectful tourists, but the sheer number suggests there are many more who come from the provincial towns, less educated and have more uncouth behavior. I have experienced queue jumping and other such unpleasant behavior from Chinese tourists, both in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Less tourists from China in either places will be ideal for me, but might not be for some businesses there.
True, especially the bold part lol. Tsai sucks ass but at least she's brought one positive thing.
Things are different here than in HK though. The number of Chinese tourists was never really particularly outrageous, the highest was still less than in Korea, Japan, and Thailand, hence they were very easy to avoid, so 99% of the population were never really bothered by them, unlike in Hong Kong. Now even those touristic places have far less Chinese tourists (aka reasonable number), which is definitely a positive thing. (though I still find Taiwan to be such a boring place and I honestly have no idea why foreigners would ever come here)
I just wanted to get people's opinions on if the mainland Chinese tourists are better going to Taiwan to visit than Hong Kong?
I am well aware of the conflicts between the mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers in terms of cultural and political and even linguistics as well from seeing the youtube videos.
The mainland Chinese are often termed as being rude, loud, make a mess, fighting over lines or seats or eating in trains, which by policy is never allowed in Hong Kong. Linguistic differences are also a big factor as well because it causes even more tension when they cannot understand each other.
I know that even in Taiwan when the mainland Chinese go there, similar conflicts do happen as well with the Taiwanese because Taiwan and Hong Kong have more westernized values and more developed.
However, it seems it does not get as crazy in Taiwan like in Hong Kong and maybe because they all speak Mandarin, it is easier to communicate lessening the chances of conflict.
I wanted to know what others think.
Are the mainland Chinese better off going to Taiwan as tourist than Hong Kong or is it all the same? I wanted to see if anyone can give their opinions on this.
Taiwan is less affected by Chinese tourists because it is much larger. HK is just a city, so mainland tourists are more visible.
And language is hardly the reason. HKers never hesitate to speak English when they see a white face with their horrible accent. In fact, if you are a Chinese person, you will be treated better by speaking English than Mandarin. You get the idea.
I will choose Taiwan over HK any day and leave HK to western tourists who are afraid of real Asia and those Chinese whose life circles around shopping. There is really nothing in HK that you can't find in Shanghai anyway.
Also, I understand why a regular citizen don't like an overwhelming number of tourists. But let's be fair, they bring business and jobs to the local economy and are in general positive. So stop this "me me me" attitude.
Mainland Chinese cannot easily travel on their own in Taiwan, they usually go in tour groups, lessening the conflicts between them and the Taiwanese. HK receives many day trip shoppers from Guangdong, with their luggages full of shopping or smuggled goods everywhere in the streets or subway trains. Mainland Chinese are not interested in shopping in Taiwan. Made in Taiwan is less attractive than made in Japan or South Korea.
Honestly, both are traditionally very anti Mainland China. The Taiwanese government under the 2 Chiangs and Chen Shui Bian were extremely anti Mainland China, and the Taiwanese public was like being brainwashed to hate Mainland China. British HK government never actively dislike Mainland China or any government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by toby2016
However, it seems it does not get as crazy in Taiwan like in Hong Kong and maybe because they all speak Mandarin, it is easier to communicate lessening the chances of conflict.
I wanted to know what others think.
Are the mainland Chinese better off going to Taiwan as tourist than Hong Kong or is it all the same? I wanted to see if anyone can give their opinions on this.
British HK government never actively dislike Mainland China or any government.
Wait what, HK was handovered to China in 1997 and sinxe then it is no longer under British administration. It is now Special Administrative Region of China whicb mrans it us under China's control with its own autonomy.
I visited HK in 2013. There was plenty of scam shops on Nathan St selling electronics at highly inflated prices 5x of the normal market.
I would never buy electronics in HK. Not only prices are usually higher than in the US, even after US sales tax but also unlike in the US, you cannot return merchandise after opening a box.
I just wanted to get people's opinions on if the mainland Chinese tourists are better going to Taiwan to visit than Hong Kong?
I am well aware of the conflicts between the mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers in terms of cultural and political and even linguistics as well from seeing the youtube videos.
The mainland Chinese are often termed as being rude, loud, make a mess, fighting over lines or seats or eating in trains, which by policy is never allowed in Hong Kong. Linguistic differences are also a big factor as well because it causes even more tension when they cannot understand each other.
I know that even in Taiwan when the mainland Chinese go there, similar conflicts do happen as well with the Taiwanese because Taiwan and Hong Kong have more westernized values and more developed.
However, it seems it does not get as crazy in Taiwan like in Hong Kong and maybe because they all speak Mandarin, it is easier to communicate lessening the chances of conflict.
I wanted to know what others think.
Are the mainland Chinese better off going to Taiwan as tourist than Hong Kong or is it all the same? I wanted to see if anyone can give their opinions on this.
No, in Taiwan, the tour buses are death traps. Just today, another huge accident. No Chinese tourists involved, but I think more than 30 people died. Taiwanese are just as lax with safety regulations as the mainlanders. They are both Chinese and they both suffer from the lack of care for details. This "Ma ma hu hu" attitude can get you killed. A huge Chinese fault that is the exact opposite of the japanese, who are known for their meticulous attention to details.
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