Man of the moment Riccardo Tisci's dark, sensual designs for Givenchy come straight from the heart, writes Jing Zhang.
- Thu
- May 23, 2013
- Updated: 9:52am
Trending topics
Blog
Tuesday, 26 February, 2013, 11:30am
Outrage after Chinese men on Air France flight take wine bottles 'to go'
Editor's Pick
Lifestyle
Ai Weiwei, China's most renowned dissident artist, has...
12:53PM
Yahoo has agreed to pay USUS$1.1 billion to buy blogging...
3:31PM
With so many groups seeking funds, it can be tough figuring...
9:52AM
Island holidays are usually about relaxing, departing from...
10:00AM
One of the men who took eight bottles of wine from an airline service cart, as posted on Sina Weibo. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Two Chinese men on an Air France flight recently shocked their fellow passengers by snatching eight bottles of wine from the airline service cart, ignoring objections from other travellers on board.
Wen Fei, a Chinese woman who works in Paris, wrote on weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, about her encounters with the two men who sat near her on flight AF132 from Paris to China’s central Wuhan city on Friday.
Wen said she tried to stop them after they each took at least eight bottles of wine and stowed them in their bags - without asking the flight crew.
“I explained to them it was not OK and interpreted the flight attendents' explanation in French, but they said it was none of my business, ” Wen told SCMP.com on Tuesday.
The two men, apparently drunk, then shouted at Wen in the Wuhan dialect, she said.
“They asked me to back off if I ever wanted to leave Wuhan in one piece,” said Wen.
The pilot later interfered and asked the men to stop fighting with Wen, she said.
“This kind of behaviour is demeaning for the Chinese travelling abroad,” she said.
Wen also posted a picture she had secretly taken of one of the two men. The photo shows a middle-aged man wearing glasses and well-dressed.
Wen’s post struck a chord with many netizens who said they, too, find the behaviour of some Chinese travellers appalling.
“The Chinese are always loud and jump queues to get on a flight – even when everyone has a seat,” said a netizen.
“They are used to ‘stealing’ from people in China and now they start applying that habit elsewhere,” commented another netizen, implying the two men might be powerful Wuhan officials.
The identities of the two men remain unknown.
Air France didn’t respond to the South China Morning Post’s request for an interview on Tuesday.
In a separate incident in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, a local CPPCC member and businessman, Yan Linkun, was caught on camera throwing a temper tantrum and smashing an airport check-in counter after he missed the deadline for boarding.
Yan has apologised to the airport and was suspended from his work, said reports from Chinese media.
After reading this article, people also read
laurence.poon Feb 27th 2013
3:48pm
3:48pm
This guy looks not a poor guy and educated people.
But many Chinese are lack of morality or dignity.
I can easily understand what they thought, "if I don't take it, it is my loss. I prefer I don't lost any thing so I take it whatever the value it is and whatever it I need it"
Most Chinese people think this way.
I grew up in China and I am now in HK and travel a lot so I can think of Chinese in two ways.
During culture revolution, China destroyed all things including morality and respect of people, culture and nature.
Doing something for themselves are more safe than doing for other people.
China is getting rich but not basing on fairness. Unless they change the system.
I don't see any hope that they can do right things by themselves.
But many Chinese are lack of morality or dignity.
I can easily understand what they thought, "if I don't take it, it is my loss. I prefer I don't lost any thing so I take it whatever the value it is and whatever it I need it"
Most Chinese people think this way.
I grew up in China and I am now in HK and travel a lot so I can think of Chinese in two ways.
During culture revolution, China destroyed all things including morality and respect of people, culture and nature.
Doing something for themselves are more safe than doing for other people.
China is getting rich but not basing on fairness. Unless they change the system.
I don't see any hope that they can do right things by themselves.
dave Feb 27th 2013
2:49pm
2:49pm
These people are a disgrace to their country and race. China have many ethical and wonderful people and the actions of these minority will dent their reputation. Hope everybody reading this article will not take these people as examples. They are just misfits and the odd ones. They should be punished to show that the government does not condone such behaviour.
johnfra Feb 27th 2013
8:53am
8:53am
In colonial days when extraterritoriality applies to the "expatriates", no one dares to touch them. Seems with China's new affluence, no one dares to touch the travelling middle class for fear of losing their custom or business. So who says wealth is not everything?
jayb Feb 27th 2013
1:52pm
1:52pm
johnfra. history shows the "white" race got "extraterritoriality" (love that word, thx), not only in asia, also in africa and "lands of the colored people" NOT because they had $$$, rather they had guns. with guns, they acquired $$$. gun+$$$ = respect. the "belligerent" chinese tourist got only $$$, $$$ with no gun = NO RESPECT -:).
HiggsSinglet Feb 27th 2013
8:43am
8:43am
Hope the netizens in mainland will identify and post the names and background of these two morons!!!
hughbear Feb 27th 2013
12:56am
12:56am
Thugs, thugs, thugs.
Is this what the new China all about? No. The vast majority of the Chinese people are kind, caring, and respectful
A fish stinks from the head. Leaders in China have to behave properly, show respect for law and order, for themselves, and for the people around them.
These Chinese thugs with their ill gotten wealth are showing off at home and abroad. We should confront them and correct them, so that they know that their behavior is wrong.
Is this what the new China all about? No. The vast majority of the Chinese people are kind, caring, and respectful
A fish stinks from the head. Leaders in China have to behave properly, show respect for law and order, for themselves, and for the people around them.
These Chinese thugs with their ill gotten wealth are showing off at home and abroad. We should confront them and correct them, so that they know that their behavior is wrong.
lauyukeung Feb 26th 2013
11:03pm
11:03pm
Don't be too simplistic, China has a population of over 1.3 B spread out over a huge geographic area, the total population is almost 2 times that of the entire Europe combined, can you figure out the diversity of these people, what you see on a certain individual is not representative...
Try to imagine how the bureaucracy of a single country managing all the people of 10's of countries together. Think about the problems in food, education, and also control if you like, and how to make them behave properly.
Letting people to go out to see the world is the best way to educate the Chines people, but it take time, in time both China as a country and the Chinese would behave better. Let us be patient.
Try to imagine how the bureaucracy of a single country managing all the people of 10's of countries together. Think about the problems in food, education, and also control if you like, and how to make them behave properly.
Letting people to go out to see the world is the best way to educate the Chines people, but it take time, in time both China as a country and the Chinese would behave better. Let us be patient.
charlie212 Feb 27th 2013
11:28am
11:28am
What does the size of their population have to do with it ? what a silly comment to make. What is the foundation of your comment? So according to 'your' reasoning, if you compared a smaller populated country like canada to , lets say the united states (35 mil compared to over 300 million) , and the americans had this sort of rude reputation similar to chinese you would say it's because of their size and their diversity and they need time to adjust ? What a joke ! Mainland chinese are inherently rude, loud, obnoxious people who will do almost anything, i mean anything for any sort of financial gain. Even a dog living on the street is more well mannered than they are. have you ever gone on a holiday somewhere in asia (thailand, viet nam japan ?) and seen mainland chinese talking really loud across the restaurant, hoarding all the food from the buffet, cutting- or jumping to the front of lines. They are scum and it's no mystery why people in hong kong hate mainlanders.
wu.lucymimi@gma... Mar 1st 2013
10:18pm
10:18pm
my god, Hong Kongers are such bigots, having lived in Hong Kong I know this for a fact, get off your high horse for god's sake, so yes, your from Hong Kong, but what about your parents,your grandparents, your great grandparents kk? whenever Hong Kongers insult mainlanders, you are in essence damning your own ethnic background, bc ETHNICALLY you are chinese. To your point I lived in Hong Kong and was born and grew up in Toronto, Canada, where there's a huge population of Hong Kongers who live in the suburbs, I can assure you, Hong Kong individuals need better social education too, as many of them are also rude, loud, bigoted indivuals who believe they're better in comparison to their "Mainland Counterparts" and living in the U.S. I know for a fact that most people don't really make the distinction between HK and Mainland China
Pages
In Case You Missed It
Login
SCMP.com Account
or
Log in using a partner site
Log in using your Facebook account. What's this?
Don't have an SCMP.com account? Subscribe Now!