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Mandarin Graffiti

A chinese teenager defaced the luxor temple. that’s bad, but scribbling on egyptian antiquity is as old as tourism itself..

Tourists take pictures as they walk inside the Luxor Temple in Luxor city, around 650 km (404 miles) south of Cairo, December 4, 2010.

Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters

China is very sensitive about its international reputation. That explains why a single act of tourist vandalism—committed by a Chinese citizen while overseas—has created a social-media uproar in the country. The controversy began last Friday, when a Chinese traveler named Shen Yuwen logged on to the social media site Weibo and posted a snapshot of a 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple carving that had been scratched over with the phrase, “Ding Jinhao was here.” (“It was the saddest moment during my stay in Egypt, and I felt ashamed,” Shen lamented.) The photo quickly went viral, prompting online outrage, and in less than 24 hours netizens had publicly identified “Ding Jinhao” as a 15-year-old middle school student from Nanjing. Amid online declarations of national disgrace and social-media death threats, Ding’s family came forward to express their regrets in a local newspaper. “We want to apologize to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China,” Ding’s mother stated, adding that the boy had “cried all night” out of shame over the incident.

Ding should be ashamed—but he’s hardly the first. Indeed, the teenager’s defacement of a priceless piece of Egyptian antiquity is merely the latest expression of a tourist tradition that is nearly as old as tourism itself. In Travel in the Ancient World , historian Lionel Casson notes that evidence of the practice dates back at least to 2000 B.C., when Hena, a high official under Mentuhotep III, chiseled his name and accomplishments into the sandstone of Wadi Hammamat , near the Red Sea. Elsewhere, at Giza, scratchings on a temple wall, dated to 1244 B.C., read: “Hadnakhte, scribe of the treasury, came to make an excursion and amuse himself on the west of the Memphis, together with his brother, Panakhti.” Scribes, perhaps unsurprisingly, accounted for the bulk of such graffiti, and Casson notes that their inscriptions follow a fairly standard formula: “Scribe So-and-So … of the clever fingers came to see the temple of the blessed King So-and-So.” Most such messages were painted onto monuments with a brush or scratched into the stone with a sharp point.

The Golden Age of graffiti on Egypt’s tourist-circuit monuments coincides with the heyday of the imperial Romans. In Pagan Holiday , a travel-themed account of the ancient Roman Grand Tour, author Tony Perrottet observes that travelers of the era regarded the Great Pyramid as “a vast, open visitor’s book, where every tourist could chisel his or her impressions. This was not considered defacement, but a grab at immortality—an effort by visitors to join their own fates to the most enduring of mankind’s creations.” Many inscriptions read, simply, “I was amazed!” One Roman tourist visiting the Valley of the Kings took a cue from Julius Caesar’s famous line and enthused, “I looked, I investigated, I arrived, I marveled.”

Touristic graffiti underwent a modern renaissance in the 19 th century, as Industrial Age European travelers fanned out across what came to be known as the “Near East,” leaving thousands of inscriptions in their wake. So common was the practice of scratching one’s name into Egyptian monuments that French writer François-René de Chateaubriand, having no time to visit the pyramids during an 1806 Egypt sojourn, sent an emissary out to engrave his name for him. (“One has to fulfill all the little obligations of a pious traveler,” he noted in his journal.) Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni is as much remembered for his prolific graffiti as he is for his contributions to Egyptology—and the large “Belzoni” inscription he left on the walls of the Ramesseum can be viewed not far from the serif-engraved surname “Rimbaud,” allegedly left by the French poet, on the sandstone walls of Luxor Temple.

The French novelist Gustave Flaubert was not impressed by the graffiti he found during an 1850 journey through Egypt. “One is irritated by the number of imbeciles’ names written everywhere,” he wrote, noting that the name and address of a certain Parisian wallpaper manufacturer had been written, in black letters, at the top of the Great Pyramid. “In Alexandria,” he added, “a certain Thompson, of Sunderland, has inscribed his name in letters 6 feet high on Pompey’s Pillar. You can read it from a quarter of a mile away. … All imbeciles are more or less Thompsons from Sunderland. How many of them one comes across in life, in the most beautiful places and in front of the finest views!”

With the rise of mass tourism in the 20 th century, Flaubert’s chagrin was echoed by upper-class travelers alarmed by the spectacle of tour buses at ancient monuments. Soldiers and sailors famously indulged in tourist graffiti during the World War II era (“Kilroy was here” inscriptions, left by American GIs, have been found everywhere from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to the Marco Polo Bridge in China), but by the mid–20 th century, travel guidebooks were specifically condemning the practice, which fell out of favor among middle-class travelers.

In Egypt, defacing monuments is a serious offense. The crime can carry a fine of more than $20,000 and up to 12 months in prison. It’s unlikely that young Ding Jinhao will ever face prosecution in Egypt. (The country’s local tourism authorities have announced that the marks made by Mr. Ding were superficial and have been removed.) Still, the issue has catalyzed an important discussion among Chinese travelers. In the wake of the uproar, China’s National Tourism Administration has stepped up its efforts in promoting a new set of guidelines for countrymen traveling abroad. Asserting that “being a civilized tourist is the obligation of each citizen,” the government agency is urging Chinese tourists to refrain from touching or writing on cultural relics, and avoid engaging in uncouth habits such as spitting, littering, jaywalking, vandalism, and cutting in line. Even before Ding’s shaming, well-publicized reports of Chinese boorishness in places like France and Hong Kong compelled the nation’s officials to draft new tourism laws that give tour companies the power to “revoke the contracts” of misbehaving clients. Meanwhile, Xinhua News Agency reports that the nation’s netizens have begun to investigate incidences of domestic graffiti, including a tourist etching on an ancient iron jar in Beijing’s Palace Museum and an inked message in a Xia Dynasty grotto in Gansu Province.

What makes this all significant lies less in the specific incidents than in the fact that China is on the cusp of a travel boom that may well dwarf all previous waves of tourism to places like Egypt. One teenager scratching his name into Luxor Temple is hardly remarkable, given the history of the site—but the reality of 100 million Chinese citizens expected to embark on international journeys by 2015 means that a little public shaming could ultimately do us all some good.

Chinese boy etches graffiti into Egyptian treasure; the last straw?

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BEIJING — “Ding Jinhao was here.”

It was a banal declaration scratched by a teenager at a 3,500-year-old Egyptian temple that has launched a round of soul-searching about bad behavior of Chinese tourists.

The Chinese-language graffiti was discovered at Luxor this month by a Chinese tourist who posted a photograph on a microblog in which he deplored the conduct of his countrymen abroad. “I’m so embarrassed that I want to hide myself,” the microblogger wrote last week.

Within days, Chinese had outed the vandal as a boy from Nanjing who had visited Egypt with his parents.

The incident has set off a very public debate in China about etiquette and the country’s image abroad. In response, the National Tourism Administration put out guidelines Tuesday advising Chinese going abroad on eight key points of etiquette, from waiting in line to refraining from spitting and littering.

“They speak loudly in public, carve characters on tourist attractions, cross the road when the traffic lights are still red, spit anywhere and [carry out] some other uncivilized behavior. It damages the image of the Chinese people and has a very bad impact,” Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang complained.

Newly empowered by their rising wealth, Chinese have become the world’s leading tourists with 83 million going abroad last year, according to the U.N. World Tourism Organization. While the $102 billion they spend is welcome, their behavior often is not.

The media here and elsewhere in Asia are full of stories of outrageous Chinese conduct. In Hong Kong, a child was allowed to defecate in a subway car. In Paris, wealthy Chinese drive sales clerks in luxury boutiques to tears with their imperious behavior.

“In general, Chinese tourists are too loud. When they get into a hotel they talk nonstop at the top of their lungs. They swarm into the elevator when the door opens,” said Li Dezhi, a Guangdong-based tour agent who takes Chinese groups abroad. He said he was embarrassed in Japan to see signs – only in Chinese – advising people they need to flush the toilet. “Obviously, they think it is only the Chinese who engage in this kind of bad behavior.”

In fact, there is plenty of non-Chinese graffiti in Luxor and elsewhere in Egypt. But the Chinese are particularly fond of writing their names on monuments. It is a tradition that is sometimes attributed to the Chinese classic, “Journey to the West,” in which the Monkey King carves “I was here” on Buddha’s finger. The magazine Caixin, in response to the Luxor scandal, ran a photo spread this week on its website of historic sites in China that were defaced with graffiti.

Liu Kaiming, a Shenzhen-based activist and social critic, sees parallels with destruction encouraged by the Communist Party from the founding of modern China in 1949 through the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.

“Everything in China has the same kind of carvings. There is a lack of respect for social order and rule of law,” said Liu.

Editorials in Chinese media in recent days have pontificated on the lessons learned from the Luxor incident. Peoples’ Daily, the Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, opined that “this instance shows our families and schools have failed to deliver to the children something that should be expected first and foremost of any education: moral principles and civic virtues.”

Ding Jinhao’s chagrined mother over the weekend said that her son, now 15, had carved the graffiti a few years ago.

“We want to apologize to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China,” she told a Nanjing newspaper over the weekend. The boy’s father begged Internet users to stop hounding the teenager. “This is too much pressure for him to take,’’ he told the newspaper.

However, the retribution against Ding continues. Infuriated Chinese Internet users over the weekend hacked into the website of his former elementary school and defaced the home page with a message: It read, “Ding Jinhao was here.”

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Barbara Demick is a former foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times who previously headed bureaus in Beijing and Seoul, as well as New York. She is the author of “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” and “Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood.” Demick has won Britain’s Samuel Johnson Award for best nonfiction; the George Polk Award; the Robert F. Kennedy Award; the Osborn Elliott Prize for Journalism from the Asia Society; the Overseas Press Club’s Joe and Laurie Dine Award for human rights reporting; the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Award; and Stanford University’s Shorenstein Award for best Asia reporting. She has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. She was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

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The Two-Way

International, parents of teen who defaced egyptian artifact apologize.

Eyder Peralta

The graffiti on an Egyptian carving at the 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple reads: "Ding Jinhao was here." Weibo hide caption

The graffiti on an Egyptian carving at the 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple reads: "Ding Jinhao was here."

The parents of a Chinese teenager are not happy. Their 15-year-old son was found to have defaced an Egyptian artifact at the 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple.

What's more, he did it using the most mundane of markings: Using what appears to be chalk, the boy wrote: "Ding Jinhao was here."

According to CNN , another Chinese tourist saw the markings and uploaded a picture to the Chinese social network Weibo.

"The saddest moment in Egypt," the tourist wrote. "I'm so embarrassed that I want to hide myself. I said to the Egyptian tour guide, 'I'm really sorry.' "

Within days, Internet sleuths traced the scrawl to Ding in Nanjing.

China Daily reported yesterday that when his parents got wind of the vandalism, they issued an apology.

"We want to apologize to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," the boy's mother is quoted as saying.

China Daily says high-profile cases like this have triggered a new "tourism law" in China. It is scheduled to take effect in October and "will force some Chinese tourists to behave properly at tourist sites"

Xinhua explains :

"Leaving graffiti is common among Chinese tourists, damaging historic sites and demonstrating poor education and behavior. "Yasser Hamed, the Egyptian tourist guide who led the tour on which Shen Yuwen discovered Ding's graffiti, said the boy may have noticed similar graffiti left as long ago as the early 20th century on the temple's walls, and thus may not have realized the gravity of his act. "The tourist guide who led Ding's group should also be blamed for not stopping such graffiti, according to Hamed."

Watch CBS News

Chinese teen tourist's alleged vandalism of Egyptian temple sparks outrage

May 29, 2013 / 10:51 AM EDT / CBS News

(CBS News) A case of vandalism on the wall of an ancient Egyptian temple has become a major source of shame and anger in China.

For three-and-a-half millennia, the spectacular Luxor temple has stood along the Nile, a monument to ancient Egyptian architecture. But now, it's a not-so-ancient, not-so-impressive graffiti etching left by a teenager that has grabbed attention: "Ding Jinhao was here," scribbled in Chinese characters.

An image of the graffiti went viral, sparking widespread outcry. It's not the way the Chinese like to be seen. The incident comes at a time when Chinese are increasingly turning online to expose problems or prompt a response from their government.

Another tourist, 41-year old "Shen" -- who would not give his full name -- posted his photo of the graffiti Friday on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter. The image received almost 100,000 re-tweets. "I did not expect it to be so powerful," Shen admitted when we reached him via a Chinese chat program.

CBS News' Seth Doane asked Shen, "You were in Egypt on vacation, you saw this graffiti, and you snapped a picture and posted it online. Why did you decide to put it online?" Shen replied, "This is a relic with 3,500 years of history. Doodling on something I revere, I feel should be condemned."

And it was. Another, unidentified Weibo user tracked down and posted the personal information of the underage, 15-year-old boy believed to be behind this, publicizing his name, date of birth and school. It focused the online outcry. Many called it an "embarrassment."

One user wrote, "You and your parents repair this -- the face of 1.3 billion Chinese people has been lost."

On Sunday, the boy's parents pleaded to a local newspaper "The kid made a mistake. ... We apologize."

The controversy warranted a response at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spokesman Hong Lei said, "We hope that Chinese tourists will abide by local laws...and behave themselves."

This prompted the central government's tourism administration to issue new guidelines this week, calling on all citizens in China to be "civilized tourists," adding that behavior, such as cutting in line, spitting, and vandalism are not considered acceptable.

Watch Seth Doane's report in the player above.

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Chinese teen defaces Egypt temple; sparks outcry

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under fire at home where his vandalism prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly affluent Chinese travel abroad.

The teen scratched "Ding Jinhao visited here" in Chinese on a temple wall in the ancient city Luxor, and the incident came to light when another Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the comment: "My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face."

The photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting thousands of comments, and someone was able to identify the person responsible for the graffiti as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern city of Nanjing. Many criticized Ding's act as an embarrassment to the country.

"Why there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many generations will it take to change this kind of behavior?" Xuan Kejiong, a prominent journalist with Shanghai Television, wrote on his microblog.

The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People's Daily newspaper.

"Nowadays, people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese," the paper wrote in a commentary. "But many people also feel as though their 'hands are full but hearts are empty.' In the process of modernization, how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?"

The outcry prompted Ding's parents to publicly apologize. In an interview with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding's father said "the child has committed a mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well."

The soul searching comes as Chinese tourism overseas has seen an explosion in growth over the past decade, fueled by rising incomes and the relaxation of government restrictions on citizens' ability to travel abroad.

China has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, said in April. The organization said the volume of international trips by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012 — accompanied by a nearly eightfold increase in spending.

Last year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in international tourism, with tourists' expenditure amounting to a record $102 billion, the organization said.

But Chinese travelers, many of whom join tour groups, are frequently criticized for rude behavior. Deputy Premier Wang Yang earlier this month during the passage of a tourism law urged Chinese travelers to mind their manners.

"They make a racket in public places, carve words at scenic spots, cross the road when the light is red, spit, and do other uncivilized things," Wang was quoted as saying. "This is detrimental to the image of the country's people and leaves a bad impression."

Associated Press researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report from Shanghai.

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Chinese teen defaces Egypt temple; sparks outcry

• Copy Link copied

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under fire at home where his vandalism prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly affluent Chinese travel abroad.

The teen scratched “Ding Jinhao visited here” in Chinese on a temple wall in the ancient city Luxor, and the incident came to light when another Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the comment: “My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face.”

The photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting thousands of comments, and someone was able to identify the person responsible for the graffiti as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern city of Nanjing. Many criticized Ding’s act as an embarrassment to the country.

“Why there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many generations will it take to change this kind of behavior?” Xuan Kejiong, a prominent journalist with Shanghai Television, wrote on his microblog.

The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People’s Daily newspaper.

“Nowadays, people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese,” the paper wrote in a commentary. “But many people also feel as though their ‘hands are full but hearts are empty.’ In the process of modernization, how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?”

The outcry prompted Ding’s parents to publicly apologize. In an interview with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding’s father said “the child has committed a mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well.”

The soul searching comes as Chinese tourism overseas has seen an explosion in growth over the past decade, fueled by rising incomes and the relaxation of government restrictions on citizens’ ability to travel abroad.

China has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, said in April. The organization said the volume of international trips by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012 — accompanied by a nearly eightfold increase in spending.

Last year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in international tourism, with tourists’ expenditure amounting to a record $102 billion, the organization said.

But Chinese travelers, many of whom join tour groups, are frequently criticized for rude behavior. Deputy Premier Wang Yang earlier this month during the passage of a tourism law urged Chinese travelers to mind their manners.

“They make a racket in public places, carve words at scenic spots, cross the road when the light is red, spit, and do other uncivilized things,” Wang was quoted as saying. “This is detrimental to the image of the country’s people and leaves a bad impression.”

Associated Press researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report from Shanghai.

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Chinese schoolboy, 15, exposed as Egypt’s ancient temple graffiti vandal

Internet users name and shame teenager who scratched 3,500-year-old artwork, article bookmarked.

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The parents of a Chinese teenager who scratched his name into a 3,500-year-old Egyptian artwork have apologised for his actions after internet users tracked down the boy to name and shame him.

The 15-year-old, from Nanjing, was identified after a photo of his graffiti – which said “Ding Jinhao was here” in Mandarin – at the Temple of Luxor was posted online on Friday.

A microblogger named Shen, who visited the temple on the banks of the River Nile three weeks ago, cited the graffiti as an example of shameful behaviour by Chinese tourists abroad. The posting attracted a torrent of replies, including suggestions that the perpetrator be tracked down.

Investigators used the internet (known in China as “the human flesh search engine”) to trace Ding Jinhao and released his age, his school and other personal details. Hackers even compromised his former primary school’s website, forcing visitors to click on a sign parodying Ding’s graffiti before they could enter the site, the Global Times newspaper reported.

Ding’s parents admitted their son had defaced the artwork a few years ago but said he was sorry for his actions. “We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China,” the boy’s mother told Nanjing’s Modern Express newspaper at the weekend.

Ding’s parents said it was their lack of education and supervision that led to his mischief. They said the attack happened when their son, now in middle school, was little. They were with a tourist group and did not notice when he scrawled on the sculpture, the mother said. “We have taken him sightseeing since he was little and we often saw such graffiti. But we didn’t realise we should have told him that this is wrong,” she added. She also implored internet users not to hound her son.

The boy’s father asked for his son to be left alone, saying: “This is too much pressure for him to take.” However, the Egyptian ministry of antiquities said the damage to the temple was superficial and it was being repaired.

The number of Chinese who can afford foreign holidays is soaring, and they spent £67bn overseas last year. Earlier this month, Wang Yang, one of China’s four vice-premiers, said the “uncivilised behaviour” of some Chinese tourists was harming the country’s image. Graffiti is relatively rare in China and there are laws to protect cultural sites. Punishments for intentionally defacing relics can involve a short stint in jail and a fine of up to 500 yuan (£54).

Anger over Ding Jinhao’s graffiti was also directed at Chinese authorities, who were accused of failing to protect ancient sites such as the Great Wall of China from polution and structural decay.

“We don’t apologise if we tear down the walls of an ancient city,” wrote one microblogger, Ding Laifeng. “We don’t apologise if we bury an ancient burial site. We don’t apologise if we destroy ancient buildings with pollution? So where do we get the face to ask a graffiti child to say sorry?”

Another commentator, Yu Minhong, blamed the boy’s parents and said China was right to be ashamed by Ding’s actions. “When you go to every tourist site, you can see something like: “X has been here”. We feel ashamed if we do it abroad, why not in China? We should learn to protect our cultural relics and understand it is also a shame to write on our own faces.”

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Anger in China over teenager's graffiti at Luxor temple

• Published 27 May 2013

The exposure of a Chinese teenager who vandalised an Ancient Egyptian artwork has led to a wave of anger among China's internet users.

On Friday a microblogger posted a photo of graffiti at a Luxor temple complex saying: "Ding Jinhao was here."

A 15-year-old boy from Nanjing was then named and his date of birth and school were posted online, reports say.

His parents have apologised to a local newspaper, saying they are sorry for his actions, Chinese media say.

Luxor, on the bank of the Nile, is home to a large temple complex, built by Amenhotep III, who lived in the 14th Century BC, and later by Rameses II.

The graffiti was found carved on an ancient stone relief by a tourist named Shen, who visited Luxor three weeks ago. After he posted it on his Sina Weibo microblogging account, more than 100,000 net users commented.

'Too much pressure'

"We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," Mr Ding's mother told local newspaper Modern Express on Saturday.

She added that the teenager, now a middle school student in Nanjing, committed the act when he was younger and had realised the seriousness of his actions.

Ding Jinhao's father also appealed for the public to let his son be, saying: "This is too much pressure for him to take."

The boy's identification led to the hacking of his primary school's website, the Global Times newspaper said.

The incident comes as another example of the growing phenomenon of Chinese internet users exposing private information about those perceived to have done wrong.

In recent months a number of officials have been felled or shamed by information made public via microblogs.

Egypt's ministry of antiquities was quoted as saying the damage to the temple wall was superficial and measures were being taken to restore it.

But this latest controversy comes days after Wang Yang, one of China's four vice-premiers, said on 17 May that the "uncivilised behaviour" of some Chinese tourists was harming the country's image.

Chinese tourists spent $102bn (£67bn) overseas last year, up 40% on the year before, and the UN World Tourism Organisation says China is now the single biggest source of global tourism income.

More on this story

China urges its tourists to behave

• Published 17 May 2013

Chinese tourists top spending league

• Published 5 April 2013

US firms in cultural pitch for Chinese tourist dollars

• Published 5 January 2013

Australia tourism targets China

• Published 12 March 2012

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BBC - History - Amenhotep III

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Outcry sparked by Chinese teen’s graffiti on Egypt temple

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BEIJING (— A Chinese teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under fire at home where his vandalism prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly affluent Chinese travel abroad.

The teen scratched “Ding Jinhao visited here” in Chinese on a temple wall in the ancient city Luxor, and the incident came to light when another Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the comment: “My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face.”

The photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting thousands of comments, and someone was able to identify the person responsible for the graffiti as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern city of Nanjing. Many criticized Ding’s act as an embarrassment to the country.

“Why there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many generations will it take to change this kind of behavior?” Xuan Kejiong, a prominent journalist with Shanghai Television, wrote on his microblog.

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The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People’s Daily newspaper.

“Nowadays, people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese,” the paper wrote in a commentary. “But many people also feel as though their ‘hands are full but hearts are empty.’ In the process of modernization, how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?”

The outcry prompted Ding’s parents to publicly apologize. In an interview with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding’s father said “the child has committed a mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well.”

The soul searching comes as Chinese tourism overseas has seen an explosion in growth over the past decade, fueled by rising incomes and the relaxation of government restrictions on citizens’ ability to travel abroad.

China has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, said in April. The organization said the volume of international trips by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012 — accompanied by a nearly eightfold increase in spending.

Last year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in international tourism, with tourists’ expenditure amounting to a record $102 billion, the organization said.

But Chinese travelers, many of whom join tour groups, are frequently criticized for rude behavior. Deputy Premier Wang Yang earlier this month during the passage of a tourism law urged Chinese travelers to mind their manners.

“They make a racket in public places, carve words at scenic spots, cross the road when the light is red, spit, and do other uncivilized things,” Wang was quoted as saying. “This is detrimental to the image of the country’s people and leaves a bad impression.”

Associated Press researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report from Shanghai.

• Wednesday, 17 April 2024

Chinese tourist scribbles name on ancient Luxor Temple

Nevine el-aref , monday 27 may 2013.

The graffiti 'Ding Jinhao was here' can be removed without damaging the ancient stone relief, Egyptian officials say

A 15-year-old Chinese tourist has caused an international outcry after a picture of his graffiti on a wall of the ancient Luxor Temple was shared on Chinese social networks.

The message ‘Ding Jinhao was here’ scrawled over a carved scene on the temple wall depicting Alexander the Great was photographed by a group of Chinese tourists, who according to Chinese blogs failed in attempts to remove the marks.

According to AFP, Jinhao was subsequently targeted by Chinese hackers, and his parents issued an apology to Egyptians and to the Chinese, saying that their son had “cried all night.”

The Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities told Ahram Online that it had assigned an archaeological committee to investigate the incident and examined the damages caused. The committee has reported that the marks made by Jinhao are superficial and can be easily removed.

Minister Ahmed Eissa told Ahram Online that the section of the temple wall can easily be restored to its original appearance.

In order to prevent the repetition of such incidents in the future, Eissa said that he had ordered the Luxor archaeological inspectorate to assign an archaeologist to escort any tourist delegations during their visit, and would increase the number of inspection tours carried out at the city's archaeological sites.

Chinese tourist

Latest news, most viewed, also in ancient egypt.

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Chinese teen causes uproar with graffiti on ancient Egyptian temple

Vandalism on a luxor temple has prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly affluent chinese travel abroad..

BEIJING // A Chinese teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under fire at home where his vandalism prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly affluent Chinese travel abroad.

The teen scratched "Ding Jinhao visited here" in Chinese on a temple wall in the ancient city Luxor, and the incident came to light when another Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the comment: "My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face."

The photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting thousands of comments, and someone was able to identify the person responsible for the graffiti as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern city of Nanjing. Many criticised Ding's act as an embarrassment to the country.

"Why there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many generations will it take to change this kind of behaviour?" Xuan Kejiong, a prominent journalist with Shanghai Television, wrote on his microblog.

The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People's Daily newspaper.

"Nowadays, people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese," the paper wrote in a commentary. "But many people also feel as though their `hands are full but hearts are empty.' In the process of modernisation, how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?"

The outcry prompted Ding's parents to publicly apologise. In an interview with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding's father said "the child has committed a mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well."

The soul searching comes as Chinese tourism overseas has seen an explosion in growth over the past decade, fuelled by rising incomes and the relaxation of government restrictions on citizens' ability to travel abroad.

China has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a UN agency, said in April. The organisation said the volume of international trips by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012 - accompanied by a nearly eight-fold increase in spending.

Last year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in international tourism, with tourists' expenditure amounting to a record $102 billion, the organisation said.

But Chinese travellers, many of whom join tour groups, are frequently criticised for rude behaviour. Deputy Premier Wang Yang earlier this month during the passage of a tourism law urged Chinese travellers to mind their manners.

"They make a racket in public places, carve words at scenic spots, cross the road when the light is red, spit, and do other uncivilised things," Wang was quoted as saying. "This is detrimental to the image of the country's people and leaves a bad impression."

Matador Original Series

7 Cringe-Worthy Cases of Vandalism Defacing Natural and Cultural Landmarks

T he day after Christmas 2021, vandals defaced some of North America’s oldest surviving rock art in Big Bend National Park. The perpetrators scratched their names and the date of their visit across the petroglyph created thousands of years ago, permanently damaging a piece of history.

Unfortunately, vandalizing natural and cultural landmarks is neither new nor rare. Tourists from just about everywhere have been caught damaging some of the most beautiful monuments and natural areas in the world. Here are seven cringe-worthy examples of tourists defacing natural and cultural landmarks.

1. Graffiti in Luxor, Egypt

Photo: achiaos /Shutterstock and Weibo

In May 2013, a Chinese teenager graffitied the Luxor Temple. The then-15-year-old boy defaced a 3,500 stone relief by carving “Ding Jihao was here” over the artwork. After another Chinese visitor noticed the graffiti, took a picture of it, and posted it on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The perpetrator of the act was found and shamed online.

The parents of the teen issued an apology to the Egyptian authorities and the Chinese people, NPR reports.

2. Spray paint on The Bean in Chicago

Photo: f11photo /Shutterstock

In July 2019, seven people were arrested for spray-painting The Bean . Officially known as Cloud Gate, the 33-foot-hight sculpture by Anish Kapoor has become one of Chicago’s most iconic landmarks.

The culprits, believed to be known taggers who call themselves the 35th Street Crew, spray-painted “35th” and the word “crew” onto the surface of the artwork. That same night, they also graffitied a memorial wall dedicated to cancer survivors, CNN reports.

3. Carvings on the Colosseum in Rome

Photo: emperorcossar /Shutterstock

In September 2020, an Irish man was caught vandalizing the Colosseum by security staff. The man had carved his initials in a pillar on the first floor of the 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater, CNN reports.

The colosseum, located in the historic center of Rome, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the frequent victim of such vandalism. In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined 20,000 euros (about $25,000) for carving a large “K” on a wall of the Colosseum, the Associated Press reports.

4. Broken moai on Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Photo: Brian Busovicki /Shutterstock

In March 2008, a 26-year-old Finnish tourist visiting the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Rapa Nui), snapped an earlobe off an ancient moai, breaking the stolen piece into dozen of fragments in the process. Authorities accused him of wanting a souvenir of one of the centuries-old statues carved out of volcanic rock.

The uproar that ensued led the then-mayor of Easter Island to say on public radio that he wished the tourist would get his ear clipped off, too. “If an ear is cut off, then an ear gets cut,” mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa was reported saying.

The Finnish man apologized, but was reportedly kept under house arrest at his hotel for 13 days and fined for damaging a national monument.

5. Slashed cacti in Saguro National Park, Arizona

Photo: LHBLLC /Shutterstock and National Park Service

In October 2020, eight saguaros were cut down in Saguaro National Park. A iconic plant of the Southwest, the saguaro cactus is tall and spiny, and is only found in parts of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. The saguaros that were cut down along the Scenic Trail were between one and 10-feet tall, the National Park Service explains in a press release . For perspective, a saguaro only grows between one and one-and-a-half inches in the first eight years of its life.

6. Spray paint an ancient wall in Chiang Mai, Thailand

In October 2020, two tourists (one Canadian, one English) were arrested after spray-painting the letter “B” and “Scouser Lee” on the wall of the 13th-century Tha Pae Gate in Chang Mai, Thailand. The pair, whose excuse was that they were “ridiculously drunk,” was caught by security cameras, CTV News reports. They spent three nights in prison before making bail.

7. Spray paint on Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts

Photo: Selectman, Betty Cavacco /Facebook

More like this

A version of this article was previously published on March 11, 2015, and was updated on January 11, 2022.

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Chinese teen sparks outcry after writing name on Egyptian temple wall

May 6, 2013: In this photo, the Chinese words "Ding Jinhao visited here" is seen on bas-relief in the 3,500-year-old Luxor temple in Luxor, Egypt. (AP)

BEIJING – A Chinese teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under fire at home where his vandalism prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly affluent Chinese travel abroad.

The teen scratched "Ding Jinhao visited here" in Chinese on a temple wall in the ancient city Luxor, and the incident came to light when another Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the comment: "My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face."

The photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting thousands of comments, and someone was able to identify the person responsible for the graffiti as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern city of Nanjing. Many criticized Ding's act as an embarrassment to the country.

"Why there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many generations will it take to change this kind of behavior?" Xuan Kejiong, a prominent journalist with Shanghai Television, wrote on his microblog.

The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People's Daily newspaper.

"Nowadays, people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese," the paper wrote in a commentary. "But many people also feel as though their `hands are full but hearts are empty.' In the process of modernization, how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?"

The outcry prompted Ding's parents to publicly apologize. In an interview with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding's father said "the child has committed a mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well."

The soul searching comes as Chinese tourism overseas has seen an explosion in growth over the past decade, fueled by rising incomes and the relaxation of government restrictions on citizens' ability to travel abroad.

China has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, said in April. The organization said the volume of international trips by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012 -- accompanied by a nearly eightfold increase in spending.

Last year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in international tourism, with tourists' expenditure amounting to a record $102 billion, the organization said.

But Chinese travelers, many of whom join tour groups, are frequently criticized for rude behavior. Deputy Premier Wang Yang earlier this month during the passage of a tourism law urged Chinese travelers to mind their manners.

"They make a racket in public places, carve words at scenic spots, cross the road when the light is red, spit, and do other uncivilized things," Wang was quoted as saying. "This is detrimental to the image of the country's people and leaves a bad impression."

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