China's charging tourist bulls

gzlaser

RECENTLY, a group of Chinese tourists visited Manhattan's Financial District. They took a ride on the famous \"Charging Bull\", Wall Street's symbol of a bullish market.

If the Chinese anchorperson Wang Fang had not taken pictures of them, most of us would never be the wiser. However, China's cyberspace is full of netizens debating whether the tourists were on good behavior.

What's my American take on the situation? For the record, there seem to be no firm and fast rules about climbing onto that bull. Apparently, tourists do climb up on him from time to time. More often, visitors rub the bull's neck for good luck in the stock market. According to some, investors actually need to rub the bull's testicles before the luck actually kicks in. Clearly, there are different ideas circulating about tourist etiquette regarding the bull.

Personally, I don't think it's a good idea for tourists to start jumping up and down on public art. As adults, we are supposed to know better. On the other hand, the bull looks none the worse for wear, and we all know that large groups of people can become pretty feisty when they are out having a good time. So let's agree to cut that group of Chinese tourists a little slack this time around.

The more important issue here is that of national image, as represented by groups of tourists. In the 1960s, when the US dollar was strong, American tourists roamed the world's tourist spots. These \"ugly Americans\" were perceived as loud, rude and totally insensitive to local sensibilities. The 1980s saw a rise in the yen, and hordes of Japanese tourists started flooding into Europe.

More recently, with the weak dollar, Europeans have descended on New York City, as have Chinese tourists with their new-found wealth. With each wave of tourists, local residents have had a chance to observe the behavior of each of these groups and form judgments.

When we venture overseas, we should remember that our individual actions are being watched and judged. Though most of us are not as famous as our nations' Olympic athletes, our actions inevitably affect our nation's reputations. Like it or not, when we travel, we are all ambassadors.

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etiquette 礼节

feisty 活跃的

testicle 睾丸

roam 漫游

horde 一大群

Bonus points

cut sb some slack: 宽容

It's your first day here, so I'm going to cut you some slack this time. Next time, you need to do much better. 看在这是你的第一天，我就不严格要求了，下次你可得干好点儿。

take: 观点，意见

Everyone is talking about this movie. What's your take on it? 所有人都在讨论那部电影。你有什么看法吗？