The 26-year-old Yao, who plays for the Houston Rockets, said China's service industries should be ``more internationally minded'' during the Olympics and follow the example of the past two Summer Games. Oct. 21 - Yao Ming, China's most popular athlete and a four-time NBA All-Star, said his countrymen must stop jumping queues, speak more quietly in restaurants and generally improve manners ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
``I suggest we work on our public courtesy,'' Yao told the official Beijing 2008 magazine. ``Such courtesies are no small matter. They are the sign of an internationalized host nation with a great cultural tradition.''
Beijing Olympic and government officials have started an etiquette campaign targeting habits such as queue-jumping and spitting in the buildup to the 17-day sports event starting Aug. 8, 2008. The Chinese Olympic Committee president this year said good manners should be ``at the top of our agenda.''
The 7-foot-5 Yao, whose comments will be published in the next edition of Beijing 2008, urged China to move into line with international standards of behavior.
``For example, Westerners lower their voices in restaurants so as not to bother other people,'' Yao said. ``Jumping ahead in queues is a definite no-no. Motorists should follow traffic rules, respect pedestrians and stop to let them pass first.''
Chinese authorities last month listed mainland tourists' bad habits in a move to encourage better manners before the Olympics, state news agency Xinhua reported. Those included ``taking off socks and shoes in public'' and ``bad temper and cursing.''
The 26-year-old Yao, who plays for the Houston Rockets, said China's service industries should be ``more internationally minded'' during the Olympics and follow the example of the past two Summer Games.
``In Sydney and Athens the service people were very nice,'' he said. ``They smiled and said `Hello' to you but they also gave the athletes lots of personal space, they did not bother them. I hope the Olympic staff in Beijing will learn from such foreign practices.''
Beijing 2008 is a quarterly magazine published by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.
