Starting this month, tour guides in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, will no longer refer to their customers as "handsome boy" and "pretty girl".

Instead they will use tongzhi, or "comrade". The honorific will not be used for foreigners.

The goal is to improve services in the tourism industry.

Zhaoqing, a city in the western part of Guangdong province, is a famous tourist destination that is popular among tourists from home and abroad.