Chinese Tourists Find a Movable Feast Best Left Behind
By DAN BILEFSKY
SEPT. 20, 2014
LOOKING FOR A FAIRY TALE On the Pont de l'Archevêché in Paris this month. The French capital is the No. 1 destination in Europe for China’s expanding middle class and legion of millionaires. Marlene Awaad for The New York TimesPARIS — Before arriving in the French capital, Wu Shuyun, a 56-year-old Chinese housewife, imagined Paris to be like a pristine film set for a romantic love story, picturing herself as a glamorous princess surrounded by elegant Parisians, decked out, perhaps, in Chanel.
Instead, Ms. Wu from Kunming in southwest China, said she was shocked by the cigarette butts and dog manure, the rude insouciance of the locals and the gratuitous public displays of affection. Though friends had warned her about thieves targeting Chinese people, she said she was nevertheless surprised when a member of her tour group was mugged on a packed Metro car, as other riders watched.
“For the Chinese, France has always been romantic, mysterious and desirable. We have been told that ‘God lives in France,’ †she said recently after a two-week tour that included stops at the Eiffel Tower and Galeries Lafayette, an imposing, upscale department store with stained-glass domes where tour buses stop hourly to deposit tourists for marathon shopping sessions. “Once I realized that the Parisians were indifferent, I made the decision: Try to make the most of this trip, but never come back to Paris again.â€
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