HTania Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Parents of a 15-year-old Chinese tourist have apologized after the teenager defaced a stone sculpture in an ancient Egyptian temple with graffiti. The act drew ire in both Egypt and China -- generating a massive online backlash amongst China's unforgiving netizens. The vandal carved 'Ding Jinhao was here' in Chinese in the 3,500 year old Luxor Temple. This was photographed by an embarrassed Chinese traveler and shared on weibo, China's micro-blogging site on May 24. "The saddest moment in Egypt. I'm so embarrassed that I want to hide myself. I said to the Egyptian tour guide,'I'm really sorry,'" that traveler wrote on the original weibo post. When will tourists return to Egypt? Tourism takes a hit in Egypt "We want to wipe off the marking with a towel. But we can't use water since it is a 3,500 relic." It didn't take long -- actually, just a day -- before outraged netizens tracked down Ding in Nanjing. Slammed online and exposed further in the mainstream, Ding's parents quickly contacted media outlets. "We want to apologize to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," Ding's mother said in a China Daily report. Ding's parents said they shouldered the responsibility of what their son did, adding he had learned his lesson. World's unfriendliest nations for tourists The original weibo post was re-tweeted almost 90,000 times, received over 18,000 comments and was widely distributed across local media. "Reading this disastrous news this morning is heartbreaking. I despise this behavior, especially in Egypt -- the place I love. Now, I just want to say 'Sorry' to Egypt," commented weibo user "Net bug jing jing." "It's a disgrace to our entire race!" said another angry micro-blogger. In a state-run Xinhua media report, one of the agency's photographers said local Egyptian staff had worked to try and clean the sculpture. While there was some improvement, the graffiti could not be totally removed. Outbound Chinese tourism has expanded rapidly in recent years. In 2012, Chinese overtook Americans and Germans as the world's top international tourism spenders, with 83 million people spending a record US$102 billion on international tourism. That growth has brought with it a backlash in some industry sectors. (See our report on Chinese tourism: The good, the bad and the backlash) Earlier this month, Beijing called on its nation's tourists to improve their behavior, with Vice Premier Wang Yang stating it was important to project a good image of Chinese tourists. Chinese travelers the world's biggest spenders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoneypuckOverlord Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 She only apologised because they got busted. Even Chinese people are pissed off. If anything, they should pay the cost to repair it. Chinese people further embarrasing themselves again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hudson bay rules Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ndwNgeYMQU Let's not forget that it was a single stupid teenager who apparently feels remorseful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkSniper Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 She only apologised because they got busted. Even Chinese people are pissed off. If anything, they should pay the cost to repair it. Chinese people further embarrasing themselves again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTania Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 She only apologised because they got busted. Even Chinese people are pissed off. If anything, they should pay the cost to repair it. Chinese people further embarrasing themselves again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uber_pwnzor Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Hihi <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dellins Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 She only apologised because they got busted. Even Chinese people are pissed off. If anything, they should pay the cost to repair it. Chinese people further embarrasing themselves again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250Integra Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 She only apologised because they got busted. Even Chinese people are pissed off. If anything, they should pay the cost to repair it. Chinese people further embarrasing themselves again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks#01fan Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ndwNgeYMQU i see faces in the smoke Let's not forget that it was a single stupid teenager who apparently feels remorseful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackberries Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 this kid needs to have an attitude adjustment. If he had any respect to begin with he would have realized how important and special the thing was that he was going to deface. not only is it disrespectful to Egypt its disrespectful to world antiquity. It would pretty much be equivalent to pissing on the forbidden city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magikal Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Put the little runt to work until they can find some way to at least partially make up for the damages done. Sure the public humiliation is going to be tough on the kid but they still need to do some form of work to offset the damage. This is a chance for the kid to have a life lesson forever branded into their head about how to act in a foreign land as a guest and how to treat others' property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EX_Bert_Worshipper Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 ???? Still trying to figure out how the act of ONE person can have any link whatsoever to an entire culture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magikal Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 ???? Still trying to figure out how the act of ONE person can have any link whatsoever to an entire culture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EX_Bert_Worshipper Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 it doesnt. CDC is full of ignorance.though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyJoeJoeJr. Shabadoo Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Stupid 15 year old kid does something really stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Ed Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Blown out of proportion. Its just a kid and this is what kids do. To me blame falls entirely on the tour guide and whatever rules provided up close and personal access. Bottom line is, if they're so worried about it being defaced then it should be off limits to the public. Don't blame a child because an entire countries economy sucks so bad that they rely entirely on tourism. I blame the Egyptian government firstly for not adequately protecting the relic and the tour guide secondly for not recognizing the risks involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancaster Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 What kind of moron wakes up one day and goes, "Oh hey... I think I'm gonna scribble my name over a priceless, irreplaceable artifact... because I think it's totally a great idea!"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edler0023 Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 LOL people saying 'its just a kid' - oh please. When you were in elementary school and went to a museum, you knew you werent permitted to touch anything unless told. This kid is 15 years old, you're telling me 15 year olds visiting Egypt dont know about that country's famous ancient history?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Ed Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 What kind of moron wakes up one day and goes, "Oh hey... I think I'm gonna scribble my name over a priceless, irreplaceable artifact... because I think it's totally a great idea!"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFCanuck Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Reminds me of an episode from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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