Have you made the list? The top 10 most annoying museum visitor behaviors

▲ The sight of someone lying flat on a bench provided by the museum and snoring away left visitors stunned. (Photo / from the Yingge Ceramics Museum’s Facebook page)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

Have you ever encountered any behaviors during your museum visits that made your blood boil? Recently, the Yingge Ceramics Museum under New Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs held a voting campaign for the “Top 10 Most Annoying Museum Visitor Behaviors.” The most disliked behavior was “spitting in public,” followed by “touching the exhibits.”

The “Top 10 Most Annoying Museum Visitor Behaviors” are ranked as follows: “spitting in public,” “touching the exhibits,” “lying flat and sleeping on chairs,” “littering,” “children running around and making noise,” “talking loudly and chatting noisily,” “loudly and maliciously criticizing artists or artworks,” “cutting in line without queuing,” “adults shouting at children to be quiet — even louder than the kids themselves,” and “sneezing or coughing without covering your mouth and nose.”

Topping the list is “spitting in public,” although it rarely happens inside museums. However, people generally consider it a highly uncivilized act. Touching the exhibits has always been a major taboo in museums. As many venues now display artworks without glass protection, institutions strongly encourage visitors to avoid touching them with their hands. Quite a few visitors, finding the indoor temperature very comfortable, have dozed off inside — some even snoring — and when there are many such people, it creates an odd “human queue,” a spectacle that earned the third spot on the list.

Chen Chunlan, director of the Ceramics Museum, said that since the museum began offering free admission, annual visitor numbers have repeatedly hit new highs. However, with the increase in visitors, “jaw-dropping” behaviors occasionally occur. Although most people improve immediately after being kindly reminded by staff, the museum still hopes all visitors will pay more attention and be the most refined and polite “esteemed guests.”