China to document 'uncivilised' incidents involving badly behaved tourists

Bad behaviour from Chinese tourists overseas will be recorded for two years

New guidebook says travellers should not to pick their noses in public, must keep their nose-hair neatly trimmed and, if they had to pick their teeth, never use their fingers (Getty Images)

China is to start documenting "uncivilised" behaviour from its tourists overseas for up to two years after a spate of incidents it said made the country "blush with shame".

Undesirable behaviour such as causing public disturbances, gambling, soliciting prostitutes or destroying public infrastructure are among the acts to be recorded.

In a statement on its website, the China National Tourism Administration said: "China's image has already been tarnished.”

It said those who behaved badly in other countries needed to "learn a lesson", but did not specify the nature of any punishment.

Regulators would be hired to monitor incidents of bad behaviour through local tourism bureaus, media reports and complaints from the public. Incidents have already been well documented on microblogging sites by citizens across the country, according to Reuters.

The programme was first put forward in January and comes after a Chinese student scratched his name on the wall of an ancient temple in Luxor in 2013.

In a separate incident, a couple reportedly sparked outrage in Taiwan for letting their young child go to the toilet on the floor of an airport.