Shenzhen media reported that Guangzhou issued the first "citizens' etiquette manual" on the 5th, which brought a sense of novelty to many people as numerous trifle in daily life do have their own rules.
It is learnt that this "citizens' etiquette manual" covers seven aspects of general knowledge about etiquette, including clothing, food, housing, travel, language, communication and entertainment. Guangzhou issued the first batch of 100,000 free copies for its citizens. This handbook will serve as a teaching material for basic governmental units' training in the future.
The manual illustrates many criteria about behaviors in daily life. "Now I know that we should not wear a hat while visiting a museum," said an aged Mr. Chen, who loved going to museums and did not know that rule until he read this manual. One should not wear a hat, or bring food or sundries to a museum, since it would be disrespectful to eat snacks while appreciating an exhibition.
Young ladies or waitresses could be called "Miss" in Guangzhou, while this word has a special meaning and should be used with caution outside of provinces. On the other hand, Miss is easily acceptable to foreign ladies. As to respectable elders, we could add "venerable" or "revered" to his surname.
People often address a person in the culture and art circle with his family name plus "teacher", and those skillful experts in industrial, business and play fields "master". Knowledgeable women can also be addressed "rabbi". In addition, people must learn to use polite words, such as "I've been always longing to meet you" and "Thanks for taking the trouble."
(China News Service March 7, 2006)
