Chinese will develop better travel etiquette in time

First-time overseas travel can be daunting, particularly if it is to a place with an unfamiliar culture.

Explosive mainland Chinese tourism means that tens of millions of people who have never been beyond China's borders are each year traipsing onto unfamiliar territory.

Not knowing how to behave, a few act as they do at home - to the outrage of their hosts. These were the visitors President Xi Jinping castigated last week while in the Maldives for littering, damaging natural wonders and eating home-bought instant noodles.

It's a familiar pattern the world over: in Hong Kong, mainland tourists have been criticised for letting their children urinate in public; in Egypt, for defacing ancient monuments; and in the United States for spitting on carpets in hotels and casinos.

Tour groups have a reputation for being loud, pushy and unruly - not unusual on the mainland, but considered bad manners in many other societies.

In one hotel in the Maldives, they are jokingly called "CN" - referring not to the abbreviation for China, but to cup noodles, the cheap food they bring with them to eat in their rooms in preference to patronising local restaurants. Chinese are spending big on tour packages and luxury goods, infusing much-needed cash into economies. But when they leave, locals are often left with a bad impression.