NANNING, Jan. 4-- While scandals involving Chinese air travelers have recently tarnished the country's airline etiquette reputation, a Chinese passenger won praise over Christmas after coming to the aid of a sick Thai air steward.

Qu Yan, a retired doctor from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was on Flight OX619 from Nanning city to Bangkok on Christmas Day when flight staff announced they were in need of someone capable of emergency medical treatment.

On hearing the notice, 58-year-old Qu stepped forward and volunteered to help.

A male Thai flight attendant had suffered a sudden surge of severe abdominal pain and the cabin crew had delayed the aircraft's take-off to give him treatment.

"When I came to him, I found his face was terribly pale and his lips colorless. Sweat was pouring out of his forehead and he was holding his anguished belly, unable to say a word," said Qu.

Based on her years of clinical experience, Qu diagnosed the attendant was suffering from a urethral convulsion caused by kidney stones.

The flight took off after the cabin crew was told by Qu that the sick steward, whose vital signs had recovered, could receive comprehensive treatment when the plane arrived in Bangkok.

During the three-hour trip, Qu massaged ointment from her luggage on the attendant's abdomen to ease his pain.

Thanks to Qu's timely treatment, the attendant was much better and could walk down the passage unassisted when the flight landed.

"It was at that moment that I was rest assured about his safety," Qu told Xinhua.

You Dongjie, a journalist from Sing Sian Yer Pao Daily, a Chinese newspaper in Thailand, happened to witness the whole incident on the flight.

When she uploaded the picture and story on microblog Sina Weibo, thousands of Chinese web users lauded Qu's heroic efforts.

"She has done a really good job. As a passenger on the same flight who witnessed the whole process, I think she has been a great role model for Chinese people," Sina Weibo user "Yanyanxiaochu" said.

Coconuts Bangkok, a local online news site in Thailand, provided detailed coverage of the incident, in which it wrote, "after the infamous noodle attack on an AirAsia flight tarnished the image of Chinese travelers, one Chinese passenger has finally stepped up and restored a bit of China's reputation over Christmas."

A string of scandals involving Chinese tourists has seriously tainted the country's image aborad, and spurred a storm of criticism on the Internet.

On December 11, four Chinese passengers grabbed headlines for causing chaos on an AirAsia flight. One of them poured a bowl of instant noodles full of hot water on a flight attendant, forcing the aircraft to return to Thailand.

Several days later, local media reported a fight among several Chinese passengers on a flight from Chongqing City to Hong Kong that almost forced the captain to turn back.

But this time, Qu Yan's heroic action helped to restore the image of Chinese tourists. "The incident was a very common thing in my life. I was just following my intuition, and I'm surprised by the storm of praises," she said.

Tunte, captain of Flight OX619, said he believes most Chinese tourists are well-educated and decent, and he warmly welcomes Chinese people to travel in Thailand.

It may take a long time for the country to overcome the contrast between its national image and the inappropriate behaviors of individual tourists, said Pang Yanyan, a tourist guide from Guangxi.

"But we hope there are more people like Qu Yan who can offer help and pass the positive energy for Chinese tourists," she said.