Tourism in China

During the strictures of the early People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party’s anti-West sentiments kept tourism to a low minimum. Towards the late 1980s, there were many reforms in the Chinese government and economy, and once again tourism became more widely accepted from both the Chinese being able to travel, and letting others travel to China. Now, China is the third most visited country, and the biggest market for outbound tourism. In 2009, China had “tourism revenue” of $185 billion.

Famous Tourist Attraction

China has a long and rich history of architecture, politics, religion, and the arts; the ancient cities of Beijing, Xi’an and Nanjing are all still standing and act as testaments to China’s illustrious past. The most visited tourist sites are the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Army. The Great Wall of China lays from the coast of Shanhaiguan in the East, to Lop Nur in the West, and is 5,500 miles long. The Wall was built to protect China from Mongolian invasions during the 5^th to the 2^nd century BCE.

The Forbidden City is located in Beijing and was an imperial place that was used from the Ming Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty. The palace is now home to the National Palace Museum and holds the largest collection of preserved wooden structures in the world.

The Terracotta Army is a collection of life sized terracotta sculpture of the armies of Qin Shi Huang, who was the first Emperor of China. There are over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses. They date back to the second century BCE.

Year of the…

The China National Tourism Administration, which is a government body that has the sole responsibility of tourism development for the county, sets themes for each year. This custom started in 1992 with the newly-opened-boarders theme of, “Friendly Sightseeing Year.” From there on, the themes have encompassed China’s great offerings, such as: “Landscape Tour”; “Folk Customs Tour”; “Culinary Kingdom of China.

Aside from the China National Tourism Administration, China is home to over 1,000 tourist agencies that help in the cause of opening China’s borders for both the domestic and foreign traveler. Only one of these agencies is foreign owned, JALPAK, which is a Japanese agency that focuses on Japanese tourism.