China Tourist hotel

China, Cuba Tie to Build Hotel
A Chinese conglomerate and a Cuban company have teamed up to build a new five-star hotel on the bank of the Huangpu River in Shanghai's Pudong District. The 700-room hotel will occupy an 11,700-square-meter area to the east of Oriental Pearl Tower, the city's well-known landmark, in Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone. After completion, its business area will cover 70,000 square meters. Suntime International Techno-Economic Corp., based in the northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, will contribut

Chinese Mainland Visitors to Be Allowed Easier Access to Hong Kong
The Chinese government will adopt a series of preferential measures to facilitate mainlanders' entry into the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), sources with the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the China's State Council said Wednesday. The measures mean all mainland travel agencies authorized to organize overseas-bound tour groups, will be allowed to arrange Hong Kong tours for mainlanders. More importantly, the quota system for mainlanders visiting Hong Kong will also be aboli

Chinese Tourists Warned
Chinese travellers are being warned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be careful while visiting the Philippines because of fears about terrorism. The Filipino Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a report suggesting travellers from China choose their travel agencies carefully and ensure they have good safety records. The Filipino ministry said terrorist actions are currently rampant in some parts of the archipelago nation. The Chinese ministry suggested Chinese citizens report to Philippin

Service Industry Thrives in Last Five Years
China's service industry, viewed as a gauge of market modernization, caught the world's attention during the Ninth Five-Year Period (1996-2000). The added value of the service industry increased 8.1 percent annually during the period, according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics. The service industry played a vital role in optimizing the structure of industries. In 2000, it contributed 28 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rising 5 percentage compared with 1995. In rece

China to Move 1.6 Billion Passengers in 40 Days
China is expected to move 1.6 billion passengers in the 40-day Spring Festival travel season starting yesterday. The Ministry of Public Security urged transport authorities to take measures to ensure the safety of passengers. The Beijing Transport Safety Committee has sent out more than 80 people to conduct inspections at 18 districts and counties. Police said ticket scalpers will be severely punished.

Yunnan Becoming Popular Tourist Destination
Experts with the World Tourism Organization have said that southwest China's Yunnan Province, neighboring southeast Asia, is poised to become one of Asia's most sought-after travel destinations in the next 20 years. Since late last year, the organization joined hands with the Yunnan provincial government to put together a comprehensive development plan for the province's tourism industry. For the past few months, experts from Australia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the Hong Kong Special Admini

Beijing Aims at Lively, Cultural 2008 Olympics
China's ancient and colourful culture will surely enrich Olympic culture if Beijing hosts the 2008 Summer Games, said officials from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee, which hails humanism as one of its themes. Displaying Chinese culture is a key element in the committee's plan for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, especially in events such as the torch relay, the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony, officials with the committee said. They believe that the Olympic ceremonies symbo

Hometowns of Former Leaders Hot in China
With the 80th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) approaching, the hometown of Mao Zedong (1893-1976), one of the founders of the People's Republic of China, has attracted many travelers. Everyday, cars and buses pack the parking lot in front of the Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memory Hall. Over 1.2 million travelers visit the museum each year and an increasing number of people come to show their reverence for the former great leader. Located at the foot of Shaoshan Mountain in central Chin

Hometowns of Former Leaders Hot in China
With the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) approaching, the hometown of Mao Zedong (1893-1976), one of the founders of the People's Republic of China, has attracted many travelers. Everyday, cars and buses pack the parking lot in front of the Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memory Hall. Over 1.2 million travelers visit the museum each year and an increasing number of people come to show their reverence for the former great leader. Located at the foot of Shaoshan Mountain

Nation Attempts to Prevent Brain Fever
China has taken emergency measures to prevent the brain fever epidemic that recently broke out in six African countries as well as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which has just emerged in Uruguay, from spreading to China. The State General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Wednesday issued a press release saying that travelers coming to China from the six affected countries must receive emergency medical treatment if symptoms of the disease appear. According to

To Be A One-day Shanghainese
Gong Chahua and foreign travelers at table raise their cups for a toast at lunch. For most foreign travelers and expatriates living in Shanghai, what arouses their interest most may not necessarily be the well-known tourism spots. It may be a local residential quarter that gives them a taste of how local people live. "It is a corner of the city that can't be concealed and decorated. "Ding Buyuan, Official of Caoyang Residential Quarters THE first Shanghai mayor after 1949, Chen Yi, probably neve

Tibetan Knife Maker
In Tibet, the name "Ceilong" is synonymous with high-quality knives. The first Ceilong knives were made by Cedain Wangyai, a skilled knife-maker in Ihaze County in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, with a secret crafting skill handed down through generations. The knife is an indispensable tool for Tibetan people, who use it to cut meat, to defend themselves, and for endless other purposes. Nowadays, many Tibetans wedge their knives into their waistbands as ornaments. Cedain Wangyai work

16 Travel Agencies Authorized
Sixteen large travel agencies in the city were given government-issued brass plaques yesterday indicating that they are the official agencies appointed to handle out-of-country travel. A trial contract which specifies about nine rights and nine responsibilities between travel agencies and travelers, the first of its kind in the country, was also put into practice on the same day. "This move has been taken to regulate the out-of-country tourism market,'' said Dao Shuming, deputy director with the

Bank of China Signs Funding Agreement With China Travel Service
Bank of China (BOC) Hong Kong Branch and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited (CTS Holdings HK) Friday announced a 7-year funding agreement of 2.25 billion HK dollars (US dollars 288 million). The agreement involves a term loan of 1,672 million HK dollars (US dollars 214 million) and a revolving loan of 578 million HK dollars (US dollars 74 million). The CTS will use the loan as the floating capital for its business expansion in the coming years, according to CTS Holdings HK, adding

China to Further Open Tourism Market
The Chinese government will further open tourism sector and lessen restrictions on foreign travel agencies' entry into the nation's huge tourism market, according to a senior tourism official. Wang Chaoyao, senior official with the National Tourism Administration, said Monday at a tourism seminar in Xiamen that China will not only open its tourism market, but also focus on advanced management concepts, technologies and personnel from abroad. To date, China has approved establishment of eight Sin

Yale President Highlights His China Tour
Visiting Yale University President Richard C. Levin said Wednesday that his China tour has been one of the most wonderful experiences of his life. Levin and his delegation visited Beijing during May 6-9 and left for Changsha Wednesday after meeting students and faculty at Peking and Tsinghua universities. He delivered speeches on university globalization and the role universities play in economic development at the two prestigious schools. Members of his delegation also talked with scholars of t

People Crazy for Cars
Excited people filled the car exhibition at the Beijing International Fair concluded last week. "I long to drive my own car for my family. We need not to worry about sunshine and rain pouring. The diameter of life has been extended along the highway," said Mr. Chen, who was wandering around the fair. The car, a product of the Industrial Revolution, was a remarkable symbol of the 20th century. When people marvel at the one-hundred year history of cars, they discover that only the prestigious have

Co-operation to Boost Provincial Tourism
More than 100,000 tourism co-operative agreements, letters of intent and contracts were signed at the China ?ê?§Jinan?ê? International Tourism Fair which ended on Saturday,according to today's China Daily. More than 4,000 travel agencies, tourist resorts and hotels gathered in the capital city of East China's Shandong Province seeking new co-operative opportunities during the fair. Sponsored by the Jinan city government and the Shandong Tourism Bureau, the first international tourism fair of the

Sichuan Sets up Major Tourism Market
Southwest China's Sichuan Province will set up a super-size tourism market providing comprehensive information and self-help services for tourists. Located in central Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, the 5,800-sq m market will open to the public in March this year. According to Jian Bo, general manager of the market, branch offices of more than 100 tourist sites, travel agencies, hotels, transportation companies, tourism websites, and supervision and complaint organizations will be involved. The

More People Borrow Money to Buy New Life
A recent survey, jointly conducted by the State Bureau of Statistics and MasterCard International, produced an interesting result: among the people who are willing to take the form of credit consumption, the majority are those with higher income. Housing and cars are still the two major items involving credit consumption in China nowadays. Among the 2,100 interviewees from Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Xi'an, men showed more interest in this new type of consumption

Travel Agencies Survive by Offering International Services
Although most domestic travel agencies are struggling with profit slides in the sluggish market,those that own international lines and treat foreign guests are still making big money,the Agency reported today. Statistics released by the National Tourism Administration indicated that 14percent of the travel agencies in China are international travel agencies,and their annual business income accounts for 98percent of the income recorded for the industry in all. The travel agencies that only do loc

Auto Travel Circle Surronds Shanghai
The auto travel has become a jaunt preferred by Shanghainese. With Shanghai as its center, it has formed a circle with a radius of 400 kilometer. It is reported the auto travel circle has changed traditional travel structures in Shanghai, Ningbo and Hangzhou. There are many national and provincial cultural relics and scenic spots in the three cities. Sightseeing has been the main travel content for many years in these places. The gradually perfect highway communication stimulates different trave

China Holds Seminar on Southern Ethnic Minority Culture
An international seminar on the culture of the southern White-Pants Yao people was held last Sunday in Nandan County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The ethnic group, widely recognized as a living fossil, belongs to the Yao family. They are named after the white pants men wear to below their knees. Mainly living in northwest Guangxi's Nandan and Libo County of neighboring Guizhou Province, the group currently has a population of 30,000. Folklore study specialists from China and overseas

David Copperfield Astounds Guangzhou
An audience of over 8,000 people in Guangzhou were astounded Wednesday evening when world-renowned American magician David Copperfield caused some of the crowd to vanish and reappear miles away. This was Copperfield's first commercial performance in China. His evening shows are scheduled to continue through July 15 in the newly built Guangzhou Gymnasium, located in this capital city of south China's Guangdong Province. Local residents responded to Copperfield's show with enthusiasm, with tickets

China Holds Seminar on Southern Ethnic Minority Culture
An international seminar on the culture of the southern White-Pants Yao people was held Sunday in Nandan County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The ethnic group, widely recognized as a living fossil, belongs to the Yao family. They are named after the white pants men wear to below their knees. Mainly living in northwest Guangxi's Nandan and Libo County of neighboring Guizhou Province, the group currently has a population of 30,000. Folklore study specialists from China and overseas have

On-Line Tourism Soars in China
By the end of 2000, more than 300 tourism websites had been registered in China, according to the latest statistics from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Nearly all the Internet Content Providers (ICPs) open websites of big travel agencies. Via the pioneer on-line travel agency in southern Chinese city Guangzhou, people can easily finish all the tourism application procedures including making payments. This marks a new development in the traditional consulting and booking servic

David Copperfield Astounds Guangzhou
An audience of over 8,000 people in Guangzhou were astounded Wednesday evening when world-renowned American magician David Copperfield caused some of the crowd to vanish and reappear miles away. This was Copperfield's first commercial performance in China. His evening shows are scheduled to continue through July 15 in the newly built Guangzhou Gymnasium, located in this capital city of south China's Guangdong province. Local residents responded to Copperfield's show with enthusiasm, with tickets

ROK Becomes Largest Source of Overseas Tourists to Guilin
The Republic of Korea (ROK) has become the largest source of overseas tourists to Guilin, one of China's famous tourist destinations. Among the one million overseas tourists that visited the city in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region last year, over 80,000 were from ROK, more than doubling the figure of the previous year. The three-hour direct flight between Guilin and Seoul, capital of ROK, opened at the end of 1999. More planes were added to the route last year as a result of t

Cooperation Sought to Boost Tourism
Henan, a central China province known for its abundant cultural relics, plans to boost the local tourism industry by attracting overseas investment and expanding cooperation with foreign travel agencies. This is aimed at increasing the non-trade foreign exchange earnings, said Governor Li Keqiang at a recent provincial conference on the opening of the province to the rest of the world. The provincial government has adopted a series of favorable policies to encourage local travel agencies to seek

The World Stands by Americans Against Terrorist
As Americans reeled from the apparent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, nearly the entire world reacted with a mix of sympathy and outrage. Canadians Ready to Extend Medical Help to US Canadian hospitals and medical agencies have got ready to extend medical help to the victims of Tuesday?￥s attack on US, local press reported. Toronto Emergency Medical Services was preparing this afternoon to send 50 paramedics to the United States. Hijac

Overseas Study Travel Popular in Beijing
Nowadays the overseas study is in the ascendant in China. With this, one kind of travel that will help the tourists to warm up and learn abroad appear stealthily. It is reported that the short-term overseas study travel is very popular in Beijing. Many parents come to the travel agencies with their children to consult or even reserve then and there. Some of the parents express that the study travel is conducive to brush up the children's oral English. Some others say that they have taken their c

Gray Hair Tourism Popular in China
Du Xianli and his wife, both at the age of 77, spent their Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year, in southeast Asia. Their vacation is a vivid example of popular "gray hair" tourism in China. As China turns to an aging society, the booming tourism industry is welcoming a wave of "gray hair". More and more senior citizens choose to travel, thus bringing vitality to the fledgling "gray hair" tourist market, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). China has one of the l

International Travel Agencies Gain More Profits
China's international travel agencies are making more profits as there are more Chinese people going abroad and more overseas tourists coming to China, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said Tuesday. CNTA statistics show that at the end of 2000, China had 7,725 domestic travel agencies and 1,268 international ones. But the latter generated about 98 percent of the country's total tourism revenue. A high official with the CNTA attributed the profitability of the international travel

Beijing Ushers in Its First Taxi Joint Venture
In a bid to upgrade the city's taxi industry, Beijing will soon have its first joint-venture taxi company. Beijing-based Jinjian Taxi Company and Delgo Taxi Management Company from Singapore have agreed to set up the first cab company in the capital. The joint venture will have an initial investment totaling 250 million yuan (US$30.2 million) and 3,300 taxicabs. Sources from the Beijing Municipal Development Planning Commission said they have accepted the application of the joint-venture's set-u

Chinese Seek Coolness on Mountains or by Seas
As the scorching hot season approaches, more and more Chinese people are seeking coolness on mountains or by the sea. Tourists are flocking to the seaside of Qingdao and Dalian and most hotels are fully booked on top of Mount Lushan and Mount Huangshan. Experts estimate that the number of tourists traveling to these places will boom in the next few months. Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui province is on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage list of the United Nations Educati

Magic of Pure Silk Lasting
On entering the China National Silk Museum in the capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province, people will be fascinated by two wooden figurines that were on display in the centre of the exhibition hall, according to today's China Daily. One is in the shape of a dancer, while the other is singing. Their plump figures, fine brows, clear eyes and carefree and relaxed demeanors were surprisingly lifelike. Relics from the Mawangdui Tombs were unearthed in Changsha, Hunan Province, from 1972 to 19

Light Rail Comes to Capital
Most of the infrastructure work has been completed on the western section of Beijing's light railway, from Xizhimen to Dongzhimen, and will open by the end of June 2002, according to sources from the Beijing Urban Engineering Design and Research Institute. "We have completed 80 per cent of the viaduct construction, railway stations and roadbed construction," said Wei Yi, the institute's deputy chief engineer, who is responsible for the project design. Public bidding on equipment, including train

Taiwanese Donates Marrow to Save Girl on Chinese Mainland
A cross-Taiwan Straits bone marrow transplant will be conducted later Wednesday, in which a male Taiwanese donates his marrow to save a girl suffering of leukemia in Suzhou, in the east China's Jiangsu Province. It is the 86th case of a Taiwanese person giving marrow to save the life of a compatriot of the Chinese Mainland. Chen Xia, the girl aged 22 who will receive the transplant operation, said she is confident about the operation. The donor, whose name is not yet known, is 25 years old, 176

Macao Is Seeking More Tourists
Macao is injecting new vitality to the tourism market, one of the most important sectors of its economy. The government will encourage tourists to stay longer and spend more in the second half of this year, Chui Sai On, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, said at the 2001 Tourism Marketing Meeting yesterday. The number of tourists to Macao increased 13.7 percent year-on-year to 3.4 million in the first four months of this year, bringing a 1.3 percent rise in the occupancy rate of Macao's h

110 Service? for Travellers
Penglai, one city in Shandong Province, has recently set up a travel ?110? patrol service in local scenic spots in order to deal with problems that tourists might meet. The service has won praise from the moment it appeared, for it offers a way of protecting people?￥s legitimate rights and creating a more convenient travel climate in the scenic spots. With May Day and National Day holidays being prolonged in recent years, travel has become a fashion in China. Many people like to invite several f

City Children Consume 3.5 Billion Worth/Month
According to statistics from a survey conducted in five large Chinese cities, a monthly amount of over 3.5 billion yuan has been spent on children. Beijing and Shanghai take the first two places, especially Beijing with a monthly total of 1.4 billion yuan spent on children. As a major part of family life, offspring?￥s clothing takes a large monetary proportion of family spending and this has given rise to an increased amount of money to be used to deck them out. A survey by relevant department i

City Children Consume 3.5 Billion Yuan/Month
According to statistics from a survey conducted in five large Chinese cities, a monthly amount of over 3.5 billion yuan has been spent on children. Beijing and Shanghai take the first two places, especially Beijing with a monthly total of 1.4 billion yuan spent on children. As a major part of family life, offspring?￥s clothing takes a large proportion of family spending and this has given rise to an increased amount of money to be used to deck them out. A survey by relevant department in two key

170 Travel Agencies Revoked of Licenses for Operation
It's learned from the China National Tourism Administration that 170 travel agencies will be withdrawn of operation licenses according to the result of 2000 national annual checkup of travel agencies. China had a total of 8,993 travel agencies by the end of 2000. Among the 8,605 travel agencies which took part in the annual checkup 7,884 got passed, 551 (about 6.4 percent) were put off for reexam and were given warning, criticism and reorganization, required to correct themselves within a time-l

Tourism Builds New Bridges
In the middle of the 13th century, Italian Marco Polo was one of the few international tourists to visit China - or anywhere else. Nowadays, it's common to find Chinese tourists wondering around the Colosseum in ancient Rome or Italians climbing the Great Wall. In Beijing, Athens, Rome, Cairo, and Jerusalem, the thriving tourism industry has shortened the distances of the world, and thus built new bridges for the Chinese civilization to exchange and blend with others. More than 42 million overse

May Entrance Ticket Save Cultural Relics?
Maintaining cultural relics by themselves has been a hot topic in recent years. It is argued that cultural relics units can obtain profit through opening up to the public and charging an entrance fee. This provides them with funds for maintenance and they no longer have to rely on the limited government budget. The Mogao Grottos, for example, can get 20 to 30 million yuan each year from charging the public for entrance. The profit of Yungang and Longmen grottos also exceed 10 million yuan per ye

Canadian Official Confident About Tourism Cooperation with China
Almost every Chinese person is familiar with Norman Bethune, but few people have chance to visit his hometown, said Richard Liu, director of Canadian Tourism Commission in China during a Xinhua interview. Some 70,000 Chinese citizens went to Canada last year, while over 230,000 Canadians traveled to China. Liu said that when the tourism cooperation begins to thrive, it is certain that the 7-23 ratio will be reversed, because the population in China is 45 times that of Canada. As an expert in the

On Road to City's New Motorway
The city plans to build a motorway from Shanghai to Haimen in Jiangsu Province via Chongming Island at an estimated cost of 8 billion Yuan(US$964 million), according to today's China Daily. "It is vital in enhancing the city's competitiveness and building up its links with the neighbouring province," said a source called Zhu with the municipal engineering and administration department. The island's economy, based on travel and biological resources, will also be greatly spurred, Zhu said. "We are

China Builds Magnetic Suspension Train
China's first magnetic levitation train based on Chinese technology came off the production line Tuesday at the Changchun Passenger Car Plant (CPCP) of Northeast China's Jilin Province. This achievement makes China the third country in the world, following Germany and Japan, to gain the technology of a magnetic suspension train, which uses powerful magnets to hold the train a few millimeters from the track and propel it with little noise or vibration. "It can run at an hourly speed of 60 kilomet

170 Travel Agencies Revoked of Licenses for Operation
It's learned from the China National Tourism Administration that 170 travel agencies will be withdrawn of operation licenses according to the result of 2000 national annual checkup of travel agencies. China had a total of 8,993 travel agencies by the end of 2000. Among the 8,605 travel agencies which took part in the annual checkup 7,884 got passed, 551 (about 6.4 percent) were put off for re-exam and were given warning, criticism and reorganization, required to correct themselves within a time-

Higher Insurance Charges Push up Air Tickets
China's airlines are to increase their international ticket prices by US$2.5 per person starting from today, in response to increasing insurance charges handed out to international air services. International insurance bearers have increased aircraft insurance charges, following the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, which have brought many insurance companies to the verge of collapse. The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), the industry watchdog, informed domesti

Insurance Sees A Dull Market in Tourism Peak Period
During the weeklong International Labor Day break, China's latest bout of "holiday economics" generated a huge payoff for most Chinese business. Yet, the insurance market seems more desolate despite predictions of a boon season with so many tourists on the move. The increase of travelers over recent years has encouraged more attention on the risk index and accidents in the tourism sector. Yet, travel insurance products are not well received. During last year?￥s National Day only 20 percent of tr

Tourists from Taiwan Reaching Record High
The number of Taiwanese tourists to the mainland reached a record high of 3.11 million last year, Sun Gang, vice-director of the National Tourism Administration, said. Sun was participating in a two-day communication between tourism industries operating across the Taiwan Straits, the fourth of its kind, which closed yesterday. Some 437,700 Taiwan compatriots visited the mainland in 1988, after the Taiwan authorities agreed to it in 1987. So far, 20.36 million people from the island have traveled

Southern Silk Road Tourism Route Opened
Several travel agencies in southwest China's Yunnan Province including the Yunnan Overseas Tourism Company recently opened a new tourism route -- "the Southern Ancient Silk Road". "It has attracted an increasing number of tourists," said Liu Wancheng, vice chairman of the Yunnan Association of Travel Agencies. According to historic records, as early as more than 2,000 years ago, businessmen from southwest China's Sichuan province had begun to trade with their partners in south Asian countries al

Southern Ancient Silk Road Opened
Several travel agencies in southwest China's Yunnan Province including the Yunnan Overseas Tourism Company recently opened a new tourism route -- "the Southern Ancient Silk Road". "It has attracted an increasing number of tourists," said Liu Wancheng, vice chairman of the Yunnan Association of Travel Agencies. According to historic records, as early as more than 2,000 years ago, businessmen from southwest China's Sichuan province had begun to trade with their partners in south Asian countries al

China Increases International Air Tickets Price
China's airlines are to increase their international ticket prices by US$ 2.5 per person starting from Monday, in response to the increasing insurance charges handed out to international air services. International insurance bearers have increased aircraft insurance charges following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, which have brought many insurance companies to the verge of collapse. Monday's China Daily said that the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) in

Southern Silk Road Tourism Route Opened
Several travel agencies in southwest China's Yunnan Province including the Yunnan Overseas Tourism Company recently opened a new tourism route -- "the Southern Ancient Silk Road". "It has attracted an increasing number of tourists," said Liu Wancheng, vice chairman of the Yunnan Association of Travel Agencies. According to historic records, as early as more than 2,000 years ago, businessmen from southwest China's Sichuan Province had begun to trade with their partners in south Asian countries al

China's Airlines to Remain Strong, Investment Bank Says
China's aviation market will remain one of the fastest-growing markets globally despite recent events in the United States and subsequent military action, a senior Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) analyst said Monday. "Given the traffic growth potential backed by China's strong GDP growth, we still favor the Chinese airlines, with China Southern Airline and China National Aviation Corp our top picks," said Tiffany Co, vice-president for SSB's Asia Pacific equity research. The SSB analyst also believed

Number of Mainland Tourists to Hong Kong to Hit New Record High
The number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong will hit a record high as the new policy facilitates mainlanders there, said Fronny Chung, marketing communications manager of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Beijing Office. From January next year, the quota system for the Hong Kong Group Tour Scheme will be abolished and the number of mainland travel agencies organizing tours to Hong Kong will be increased from the current four to 67. Statistics show that during the past National Day holiday, the

Rail Price Hike Review Welcome
Complaints about the price increase on railway tickets during the Spring Festival led to an administrative review case filed by a lawyer in North China's Hebei Province. Qiao Zhanxiang demanded the Ministry of Railways cancel the price hike as well as the administrative approval given by the State Development Planning Commission over such pricing activity. When the new prices, about 20 to 30 per cent higher than usual, were introduced, the railway department claimed the scheme was intended to re

Visit China 2001 Travel Fair Launched in Bangkok
Manifesting the fast-growing tourism exchange and cooperation between Thailand and China, a grand tourism exhibition and trade fair to promote Chinese tour routes was launched in Bangkok yesterday. "Thailand and China have long enjoyed an exceptionally close relationship and recently the ties are growing even stronger through the increasing number of tourist traffic between the two countries," said Somsak Thepsuthin, Thai minister of the Prime Minister's Office who is in charge of the country's

Higher Insurance Charges Push up Air Tickets
China's airlines are to increase their international ticket prices by US$2.5 per person starting from Monday, in response to increasing insurance charges handed out to international air services. International insurance bearers have increased aircraft insurance charges, following the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, which have brought many insurance companies to the verge of collapse. The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), the industry watchdog, informed domest

Where the Dragon Meets the Sea
Situated on the coast of Bohai Bay in northeast Hebei Province in North China, Qinhuangdao has long been famous as an ideal summer resort because of its pleasant scenery and culture. Laolongtou Qinhuangdao ("Qin Emperor Island") is where the Great Wall protrudes into the sea like a dragon drinking water. Laolongtou ("dragon head"), is the place where the wall meets the sea, and is the city's key attraction. Standing at Laolongtou, facing the misty sea, visitors can easily picture Emperor Qin (22

Harbin plans special tourist train for Hong Kong
The Harbin Railway Bureau in northeast China plans to run a special summer camp train for students to travel to Hong Kong and Macau. The train, which is scheduled to leave Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on July 21, will carry 600 students and teachers. The 11-day trip program is sponsored by a local travel agent attached to the bureau, and it is aimed at promoting exchanges between students in Heilongjiang Province and those in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Adminis

Railway Sector Attacked for Festival Services
The Ministry of Railways is facing mounting criticism from passengers for its price hikes and poor service during the Spring Festival peak travel period, reported China Daily Friday. China's Consumers Association has sent an inquiry letter to the ministry, demanding answers about the price increase before February 25. The consumers' protector has asked the ministry to explain why it raised ticket prices without a public hearing, what the legal basis was for raising the prices and what the possib

Buddhist Treasure Trove Revealed
As a curator of the Poly Art Museum, Jiang Yingchun has his own temporary hide-away from the hustle and bustle of the office. The quiet quarter, only a few strides away from his office, houses a special collection of around 40 rare Buddhist sculptures dated between the 5th and 9th centuries. Entering the display room, one is greeted with gusts of fresh cool air and surrounded by dark, subdued walls. Specially positioned tiny lime lights from the ceiling illuminate statues of Buddhas and bodhisat

China Culture Road-Show Launched in US
China Culture and Travel Road-Show, organized by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), kicked off at Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue, in downtown Washington Friday afternoon. Under the theme of "Discovering China in the New Century," the road-show is aimed at enabling the US travel trade and the public to better understand China and its tourism development. The delegation, the largest and most comprehensive one ever in China's tourist industry, is comprised of representatives from

Environmental Efforts Promote "Lesser Three Gorges"
Please don't pollute the river. Just put waste into a paper bag. Please help us keep the Lesser Three Gorges clean. Thanks.

While passengers take their seats in a yacht cruising the Daning River along the valley known as the Lesser Three Gorges, they hear such words from a guide at the very beginning.

"The river is a branch of the Yangtze River and it is so clean that many foreign tourists just drink their bottles dry of mineral water and replace it with the river water," said Wei

Travel Agency's License Revoked
A well-known local travel agency has been stripped of its license. Because on an excursion to Thailand five months ago, customers were taken to sex shows while visits to scenic spots were canceled, city officials disclosed this week. The disclosure came three weeks after the National Tourism Bureau in Beijing imposed its punishment on Shanghai Comfort International Travel Service. This was the first time that any of the 16 local companies authorized to conduct tours outside of China has been pun

Aged Man Took His Mother China Tour
Wang Yimin, a 75-year-old man from Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, took his hundred-year-old mother by tricycle from his hometown to Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province in a bid to realize his mother's dreams, eastday.com reported today. The two aged people appeared travel-stained but very excited. Wang has a family with five generations, and one day, his mother said that the days for her wasn't too long and she wanted to travel around, Wang said. "So I took her by tricycle and b

Vast Open Plain Is Their Home
Except for a few settled farmers, most of the Kazak ethnic people in the Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, make a living with animal husbandry, migrating to look for pastures as the seasons change. The picture of Kazak families carrying the old and the young, dragging yurts, driving carts and livestock and traveling on the vast open plains in the south of Altay Mountain is a spectacular one. Recently, I got a chance to follow a Kazak family as it migrated an

Buddhist Treasure Trove Revealed
As a curator of the Poly Art Museum, Jiang Yingchun has his own temporary hide-away from the hustle and bustle of the office. The quiet quarter, only a few strides away from his office, houses a special collection of around 40 rare Buddhist sculptures dated between the 5th and 9th centuries. Entering the display room, one is greeted with gusts of fresh cool air and surrounded by dark, subdued walls. Specially positioned tiny limelights from the ceiling illuminate statues of Buddhas and bodhisatt

China Faces the Challenge

of An Aging Society
The aging of China?￥s population is accelerating. Zhu Zhixin, director of the National Bureau of Statistics and head of the Leading Group for the National Census of the State Council, made this announcement in March. The fifth national census reveals significant changes in the structure of the Chinese population. Accounting for 22.89 percent of the total population are newborns to teenagers of 14 years of age, a decrease of 4.8 percentage points compared with the 1990 census, while people over 6

Railways Attacked for Festival Services
The Ministry of Railways is facing mounting criticism from passengers for its arbitrary price hikes and poor service during the Spring Festival peak travel period. China's Consumers Association has sent an inquiry letter to the ministry, demanding answers about the price increases before February 25. The consumers' protector has asked the ministry to explain why it increased ticket prices without a public hearing, what the legal basis was for raising the prices and what the possibility was of lo

China Travel Expects Best Ever Profit in 2001
China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Ltd. (0308.HK) said it will become the first foreign travel agent with a wholly owned China business, Hong Kong Economic Times reported, citing company Managing Director Shen Zhu Ying. The company, a unit of China's largest state-backed travel agency, is incorporated in Hong Kong and so is considered foreign. The company's net income will exceed analysts' forecasts of about HK$350 million ($45 million), Apple Daily said, citing Shen. China Travel w

PLA Navy Fleet Leaves for Celebrations in Australia
A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy fleet left Zhanjiang, this military port in south China's Guangdong Province Sunday morning for a goodwill visit to Australia and New Zealand. The fleet will attend celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth of Australia in Sydney and participate in an international fleet reviewing session there. The fleet is expected to travel 11,800 sea miles within 46 days before concluding the whole journey. The Chinese fleet i

Anti-Cult Exhibition Attracts Over 10,000 Visitors Daily
Yang Huijun, a member of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, asked his 6- year-old boy, "Baby, do you know what a cult is?" The boy, standing in the exhibition hall of the Military Museum, raised his fatty hand, pointing to a picture on the wall and said, "Yes, daddy, the cult is a wolf wearing a sheep's skin. It always cheats people." The picture is shocking by sight, with several Falun Gong cult people burning themselves. This is one of the thousands of pictures in the e

Vietnam Airlines Sees Opportunity in China
Vietnam Airlines, the country's national flag carrier, reported an occupancy rate of 80 percent on the newly opened flights from Beijing to Hanoi during China's National Day holidays. Air routes from Beijing to Ho Chi Minh City and from Kunming to Hanoi will be opened by the end of this month, while a route between Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh City is on the agenda for next year, according to Phan Mau Tien, general manger of the Airlines' Beijing Office. "We will further strengthen cooperation with C

New Air Route Launched
A new air route was launched Wednesday between two major cities in northwestern China's Gansu Province. The route connects Lanzhou, capital of the province, and Jiayuguan, an important transportation pivot and famous scenic resort of the province. The route covers part of the ancient Silk Road, a land thoroughfare linking China with Central and Western Asia in ancient times. The flight will be made on the 32-seat Dornier model 328-300 airplane, a feeder aircraft produced by Germany and the Unite

Passenger Volume at Chengdu Airport Hits 10,000
The number of passengers handled at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in western China's Sichuan Province yesterday reached 12,000 for the first time this year, with more than 5,000 leaving the city. Flight load factors are on the increase these days, especially those to cities in the south and Lhasa in Tibet, officials said. Most of the air tickets to Haikou of Hainan Province have already been booked by travel agencies. The number of incoming passengers is about one eighth of out-goers.

Shenzhou II Spacecraft Returns
Shenzhou-II, China's second unmanned space shuttle launched on January 10 touched down smoothly in the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China Tuesday at 19:22 (Beijing Time), after flying 108 circles around the earth in nearly one week. The successful recovery of the space vessel serves as a special gift to Chinese people, who are slated to mark the lunar Spring Festival, which is just seven days away. ``Shenzhou unmanned space capsule made a nearly 7-day, 108-orbit

Preservationists Urge Beijing

To Protect Ancient Sites
Local archaeologists and experts are urging Beijing government to protect cultural relics that might be damaged by the massive construction campaign about to start to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"I hope the bulldozers only scrape the ground even instead of disrupting our long history so future generations do not regret what we did," said Song Dachuan, head of the Beijing Historical Relics Institute.

Song said the 2008 Summer Games will certainly help along Beijing's moderni

More Roads to Facilitate Beijing's Traffic
Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games has gained new momentum as a group of projects are near completion, including the Fourth Ring Road. The 50-kilometer long road, which will open in June, will be a principal expressway connecting the majority of planned Olympic venues in the north and west of Beijing. The local government has officially named the Fourth Ring Road the "Olympic Boulevard." It will have eight-lanes with 147 flyovers to connect with the major streets of the city. Travel time w

Spring Festival Transportation Ends with New Trends
China's planes, trains, buses and ships carried as many as 1.65 billion passengers during the 40-day Spring Festival transportation season, which ended Saturday. The number is even bigger than the 2000 Spring Festival transportation season's figure of more than 1.5 billion. However, all the passengers did not travel for family reunions, as Chinese traditionally have done so in the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell on January 23 this year. A recent survey showed 44.96 million

Headway Made in Using Foreign Funds for West China Development
Much headway has been made in using foreign funds on key projects for West China development, says Zhang Guobao, vice minister of the State Development and Planning Commission, at a press conference in Shanghai on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 when briefing on the policy and projects for West China development. After China made known its west development strategy many APEC members have shown strong interests and rushed to the western regions for inspection. By now, some members' enterprises have joi

8 Airlines Allowed Up to 40% Discounts
From Sunday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will allow Chinese carriers to offer discounts of up to 40 percent on eight additional domestic routes, in a move towards a more market-oriented pricing policy. The industry regulator recently said lower fares will be permitted on the following routes: Haikou-Beijing, Haikou-Shanghai, Haikou-Guangzhou, Haikou-Shenzhen, Haikou-Chengdu, Haikou-Chongqing, Haikou-Kunming and Sanya-Guangzhou. "The decision, aimed at helping carriers attract more

Beijing Overhauls Intermediaries for Overseas Travels
Beijing has shut down 11 overseas travel agencies and arrested four people for organizing illegal emigration activities, a public security spokesman said Thursday. The spokesman of the Municipal Public Security Bureau said that the city authorities had examined more than 300 intermediate agencies who help people obtain entrance and exit permits of the country in a recent search. In the inspection, police discovered 65 agencies who engaged in misconduct in their operations. As a result, one agenc

Four Foreigners Granted Chinese "Green Card"
Four foreign businessmen were recently granted permanent resident status in Tianjin?ê? a municipality neighboring Beijing?ê? as a reward for their contributions to China's economic development. The four are Malaysian Pin Yong Lai?ê? president of Motorola ?ê?§China?ê? Electronics Ltd.?ê? Pung Jo Kwon from the Republic of Korea ?ê?§ROK?ê?ê? vice president of LG Chemical Ltd. and director of business in China?ê? Tamura Tadashi from Japan?ê? general manager of Mitsumi ?ê?§Tianjin?ê? Electric Co.?ê?

Overseas Scholars Support China's Hi-Tech Development
Twenty-one Chinese scholars who are currently living in Britain Tuesday visited Zhongguancun, dubbed China's Silicon Valley, and talked with entrepreneurs there about their collaborations on high-tech projects. Invited by the Administrative Committee of the Zhongguancun Science Park, the Education Affairs Office of the Chinese Embassy in Britain selected top Chinese talents there to make the trip. Most of them are Ph.D. holders. Xia Yingqi, deputy director of the committee told Xinhua, that the

Give Me Red, Red Envelopes
Vendors cash in on the sale of red envelopes, which are traditionally filled with money as gifts to children. They send them, they get them and they exchange them. As the Chinese New Year approaches, red envelopes are the rage. Here are the changing Chinese attitudes about the eagerly awaited gifts in the following story. ?We need another 10 of them,? said a woman to her husband and daughter, selecting from the piles of small red envelopes, along with several other shoppers. Her daughter was alr

Red Tours Featuring Revolutionary Base
The revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China (CPC)in the 1930s and 1940s in the Wutai Mountain area has become the travel agency's regular visiting site for the first time. The Wutai Mountain area in north China's Shanxi Province is famous not only for many ancient temples, but also for its historical remains of CPC revolutionary base. In the 1930s, the government of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region was located in the Wutai Mountain area. During the War Against Japanese Aggression

Headway Made in Using Foreign Funds for West China Development
Much headway has been made in using foreign funds on key projects for west China development, says Zhang Guobao, vice minister of the State Development and Planning Commission, at a press conference in Shanghai on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 when briefing on the policy and projects for west China development. After China made known its west development strategy many APEC members have shown strong interests and rushed to the western regions for inspection. By now, some members' enterprises have joi

China Signs Cooperative MOU With ILO
China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Labor Office (ILO) in Beijing Thursday to undertake full cooperation in the labor and social security fields. The ILO is the standing secretariat of the International Labor Organization, which, founded in 1919, is a specialized agency for social and labor matters associated with the UN. Minister Zhang Zuoji and ILO Director General Juan Somavia jointly signed the MOU and met with the press f

Tourism Board Tells 170 Travel Agents to Take a Hike
Sources at the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA)have said that the annual inspection of the tourism industry is over and a large number of travel agents will be out of a job. The CNTA will revoke the business licenses of 170travel agencies because they failed to pass the annual inspection. The inspection revealed that,at the end of 2000,the number of travel agencies in China totaled 8,993,up 1,638,or 22.27percent,from a year ago.The annual inspection covered 8,605travel agencies,accou

More Roads to Facilitate Beijing's Traffic
Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games has gained new momentum as a group of projects are near completion, including the Fourth Ring Road. The 50-kilometre long road, which will open in June, will be a principal expressway connecting the majority of planned Olympic venues in the north and west of Beijing. The local government has officially named the Fourth Ring Road the "Olympic Boulevard." It will have eight-lanes with 147 flyovers to connect with the major streets of the city. Travel time w

Beijing Overhauls Intermediaries for Overseas Travels
Beijing has shut down 11 overseas travel agencies and arrested four people for organizing illegal emigration activities, a public security spokesman said Thursday. The spokesman of the municipal public security bureau said that the city authorities had examined more than 300 intermediate agencies who help people obtain entrance and exit permits of the country in a recent search. In the inspection, police discovered 65 agencies who engaged in misconduct in their operations. As a result, one agenc

Business Advisory Council Serves APEC
The October 18-21 fourth meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council (ABAC) opened Thursday in Shanghai. As a private-sector arm of APEC, the business advisory council played a key role over the past five years in serving to facilitate communications between economic leaders and enterprises of APEC. While the ABAC meeting was still in progress, interviewed its chairman for the year 2001, Qin Xiao who is also chairman of China Merchants Holding Co. Ltd. : How does ABAC

Oracle VP Gives Advice on Doing Business in China
Kevin Walsh, a vice president of Oracle, the software giant based in Redwood, California, was interviewed in Shanghai on October 17 by after a press conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation International Media Center on Human Capacity Building. The conference reported on progress of several projects established in May at the APEC High Level Meeting on Human Capacity Building in Beijing. They include an Internet platform for training senior computer technicians from the 21-member APEC

Chinese Peasants Enjoy Travelling by Plane
For the first time in their lives 122 farmers from Yuanjiacun Village of northwest China?￥s Shaanxi Province have just enjoyed a pleasant travel by air. Yuanjiacun was a poor village previously. These farmers never dreamed of traveling by air. As they have been becoming prosperous by operating 12 enterprises with total fixed assets worth 22 million US dollars last year, they decided to travel together to Beijing, the capital of China, to broaden their vision. Now all the families in the village

Tibet: From Isolation to Openness
No tap water, no power supply, no sewerage system, no highway transportation, no decent towns.... Until the early 1950s, the Chinese and foreign media so described Tibet. Certain foreign scholars even compared life in old Tibet to that of the European Middle Ages. At that time, apart from Qomolangma (Everest) and other mountains that connoted a remote and mythical image, Tibet was synonymous with backwardness and isolation. It is little wonder that members of a foreign tour group, on arriving at

Taiwan Travel Services Inspect Yunnan
Presidents of travel services from Taiwan made an inspection tour to southwest China's Yunnan Province recently. They made spot investigations at major sites of historical interests and landscapes in Yunnan, tourist facilities and travel cost. Since the Yunnan Airlines opened an air route to Macao, thousands of people from Taiwan visit Yunnan each year. Yunnan is rich in tourism resources which include plateau lakes, karst landforms tropical forests and low latitude glaciers. It also has 25 ethn

First Golden Tourism Week to Come
In a few days, China will welcome its traditional Spring Festival which is expected to ignite the tourism industry. "The tourism market is expected to set a new record this year. Not only will the number of tourists grow rapidly, but that of tourist destinations as well," said Zhang Xiqing, vice director of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). The total number of domestic travelers and those from abroad is expected to surpass the figure in the same period last year, which stands at

Chinese Delegation Promotes Tourism in US
June 15 saw a large promotion activity of Chinese tourist market conducted in Washington of the United State. Chairman of China National Tourism Administration He Guangwei, Chinese ambassador to US Yang Jieci and a local official inaugurated the "Chinese caravan tours" The US is one of the tourist resources markets of great importance for China as well as the largest faraway market with the fastest growth rate. Last year saw about 900,000 US people visiting China, a rise of 21.7 percent over the

Travel In, Out of China Peaks During Summer
China's domestic tourism industry has been riding a summer boom since the beginning of this month, at the same time increasing numbers of Chinese people go abroad to travel. Domestic tourism income during the summer holiday is expected to reach nearly 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion), up more than 10 percent from the same period last year, according to sources with the National Tourism Administration. Beijing's victorious bid to host the 2008 Olympics Games has been partly attributed to the growin

Roads on the Rooftop of the World
Back in the seventh century, when Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was sent to marry King Songtsen Gampo of the Tubo Kingdom, her journey from Chang?￥an (today?￥s Xi?￥an) to Lhasa took almost one year. People today can hardly imagine the hardships she experienced on her way to Tibet. Covering an area of more than 1.2 million square km, Tibet is a region of China with the highest elevation. It has 50 mountains with altitudes of up to 7,000 meters and 11 peaks rising over 8,000 mete

Shocking Discounts on a Hong Kong Visit
A big discount shocks the travel market with mere 700 yuan (US$84) for a Hong Kong visit from Guangdong from September 1, according to the only two travel agencies in South China's Guangdong Province, South Cosmopolitan Newspaper reported today. The price has hit a-10-year record's low, and travel routes all cut the price by an approximate 20 per cent margin on average. Three to four days' travel price has decreased from 1,860 yuan to 1,500 yuan, and 13 days' from 1,970 yuan to 700 yuan. Sources

Hong Kong People Enjoy Easter Break Travel
Hong Kong residents like to travel during the long vacations, but, even during the 4-day Easter weekend break, more than 1 million people travelled out of Hong Kong. The number of people exiting and entering Hong Kong in the four days surged to 1.17 million, according to the official Agency. However, no disorder or scuffles were reported from any port, officials with the Hong Kong Entry-Exit Administration said. With specially dispatched police to maintain order and additional checkout points, e

Nation to Top Traveler Wish List
China has the potential to become the world's leading tourist destination, overtaking traditional favorites such as France, Spain and the United States by 2020, according to a top official of the World Tourism Organization. By 2020, it is anticipated 145 million tourists will travel in China, including 33.5 million overseas tourists, generating US$75 billion for the tourism industry. Domestic tourism is expected to generate 2,700 billion yuan (US$326.5 billion). Tourism revenues could make up 8

Athletes' Village for 21st Summer Universiade With Human-Centric Design
With a human-centric design, the newly-built Athletes' Village in Beijing for the forthcoming 21st Summer Universiade is ready to provide best services for athletes from all over the world. The village, the first ever specially built for a Universiade, is situated in the northwestern part of Beijing where most of the universities in Beijing are located. Covering an area of 11.2 hectares, with more than 10,000 square meters of wooded area and greenery, the village includes 13 silver- gray main bu

Tourism Mart to Get Firm Hand
China has vowed to rein in its tourism market management through better regulation and a crack down on misbehaviour by some members of the industry. China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) has decided to put the outbound tourism market in order and outlaw unlicensed travel services. China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) has decided to put the outbound tourism market in order and outlaw unlicensed travel services. Also, luring tourists with false advertisements, which in the past has

Highway Network on the Rooftop of the World
Back in the seventh century, when Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was sent to marry King Songtsen Gampo of the Tubo Kingdom, her journey from Chang?￥an (today?￥s Xi?￥an) to Lhasa took almost one year. People today can hardly imagine the hardships she experienced on her way to Tibet.

Covering an area of more than 1.2 million square km, Tibet is a region of China with the highest elevation. It has 50 mountains with altitudes of up to 7,000 meters and 11 peaks rising over 8,0

Beijing Residents Welcome Ethnic Performance
Captivated audiences in modern Beijing city have been absorbed in the resounding music and solemn dances watching the ongoing Second National Joint Art Performance by Ethnic Minority Groups. "It is so beautiful, idyllic and elegant," said Liang Huihong, after watching opera Dadase performed by the Li nationality from south China's Hainan Island. Starting from last Saturday, singers, dancers and other performers representing China's 56 ethnic minority groups have been staging unique performances

Non-Stop Service from Beijing to Chicago
United Airlines announced Monday that beginning April 2, 2001 it will become the first airlines to offer non-stop services between Beijing and Chicago. According to Sidney Kwok, general manager of United Airlines in China, the new daily non-stop service, flight UA850, will depart from Beijing at 16:35 p.m. and arrive in Chicago at 16:40 p.m. on the same day, only 13 hours and five minutes travel time. On April 2, United Airlines will also commence a convenient service from Beijing to San Francis

Background Music: Copyright Protected in China
The first copyright fees for background music broadcast in hotel lobbies and restaurants in Beijing?￥s some 63 major hotels (3-star and above) has been paid to the Music Copyright Society of China, furthering China?￥s efforts to comply with international copyright laws. Founded in 1992, the Music Copyright Society of China is the only collective management organization for copyright in China, with ties to over 30 foreign music copyright protection organizations including the Irish Music Rights O

Li to Publish Xixia History
Professor Li Fanwen, an authority on the research of the Xixia (Western Xia) civilization, will publish his latest research, "The General History of Xixia" this year. Li's monumental works include "Xixia-Mandarin Dictionary," "Northern Chinese Dialects in Song Dynasty" and "Studies on Identical Sounds," reported agency. Xixia, an ancient kingdom that existed a thousand years ago in the northwest part of the country, disappeared mysteriously, leaving a question mark in the history of world civili

Nation Gets Ready for Traveling Boom
Millions of tourists are expected to take to the road next week and provide a spur to the holiday industry with the start of the National Day and Chinese Mid-autumn Festival. The National Tourism Administration forecast that the numbers of people traveling within China could surpass the travel boom that accompanied this year's week-long Labor Day holidays in May. On that occasion, 60 million people went on the move. Beijing alone is expected to receive around 2 million domestic and foreign visit

Visiting Factories: New Mode of Tourism in Shanghai
A new mode of tourism has flourished in Shanghai: visiting famous and large-scale local factories. Yangshupu Waterworks -- Shanghai's oldest waterworks opened to visitors on March 10, and several thousand residents registered to visit in only one week's time. After drinking water directly from the taps, they wondered at the good water quality of Shanghai. Over 10,000 Shanghai residents visited the Shanghai Sharp Co., Ltd., which was opened to visitors last year. They visited assembly lines for w

New Tracks Set to Make Tibetans More Mobile
Tibetans have always dreamed of one day having an opportunity to travel by train in their own region. Although railways have crossed countries for many years, Caidan Zuoma, who lives near Lhasa, has only seen them on her television set. "I have always wished that one day I would be able to ride the 'floating black bug' and go to Beijing and other wonderful places in China. I imagine it is much better than a long, arduous journey on bumpy roads," she said. In six years' time, when China finishes

Strategy Ends Holiday Gridlock Fears
Millions of tourists are expected to take to the road next week and provide a spur to the holiday industry with the start of the National Day and Chinese Mid-autumn Festival. The National Tourism Administration forecast that the numbers of people travelling within China could surpass the travel boom that accompanied this year's week-long Labour Day holidays (May 1-7). On that occasion 60 million people went on the move. Beijing alone is expected to receive around 1.6 to 2 million domestic and fo

Trains Travel on Speedier Timetable
A new railway operation timetable was reported to be running smoothly Sunday as China's Ministry of Railways accelerated for the fourth time the speed of trains. Wu Qiang, vice-director of the transportation bureau under the ministry, said that the whole speed hike plan would be completed on Monday. A total of 379 trains left their stations Saturday according to the new schedule. One such cut brings the travel time between Beijing and Shenzhen to 23 hours and 58 minutes from the original 29 hour

Chinese Premier Backs Anti-drug War
Premier Zhu Rongji pledged China's support for a war on drugs in the "Golden Triangle" and offered help to Thailand's vital agricultural sector, Thai officials said on Saturday night. Zhu is on a four-day visit to the country for strengthening economic and political bilateral ties and boosting regional cooperation. Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters that Zhu offered to host a drug summit for leaders of Thailand, China, Myanmar and Laos in Kunming, capital of China's south

Mount Qingcheng Draws More Than Just Tourists
The sacred Taoist mountain boasts an ecological wonder - more than 2,000 egrets that perch near the entrance to the mountain amid the cool and clean air?ê?according to today's China Daily. Located 65 kilometres west of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu?ê?Mount Qingcheng is one of the most popular summer travel destinations in Southwest China and is claimed the birthplace of Taoism?ê?China's only indigenous religion. The egrets in the mountain are attracted by 99 ancient Machilus trees?ê?

Shanghai Seized in Hustle-bustle of Spring Festival Travel Season
Numerous passengers, with boxes under arm and in hand, have been flocking to railway stations, ports and airports these days and queues for tickets wind for 200 meters long in China's largest city of Shanghai. Shanghai, the communications hub in east China, has been seized in the hustle and bustle of Spring Festival travel season which peaked from 19th through 23rd, the new year's eve for China's lunar new year which falls on January 24. The city has reported a significant growth in passenger fl

Roof of the World Hits New Heights
Already a magnet for sightseers and adventurers, Tibet is now vowing to turn the "roof of the world" into a tourism paradise by improving its infrastructure and adding more sites of interest to travellers' itineraries. It is also promising to simplify procedures for foreigners going trekking, according to Mingyal, the vice-director of the Tibet Tourism Bureau. Snow-capped peaks, mysterious monasteries, endless forests and lakes - Tibet has much to offer. Twenty years of tourism development has l

Air-ticket Ad Agents Get Wings Clipped
Shanghai authorities are tightening up what they say is a "chaotic" air ticket advertising market that has victimized consumers with bait-and-switch tactics and outright fraud. The problem was so bad in recent months that 99 percent of all air ticket ads were false, estimated Wang Changshou, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's transportation division. To clear up the problem, the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau joined with Wang's agency earlier this

Travel Agencies Touring Abroad Stipulated
China issued more stipulations for those travel agencies managing touring abroad services. The provisions prohibited tours to the not-yet open destination countries, business with unauthorized overseas travel agencies and overcharge of tourism fees. "We will revoke the agencies which don not obey the rules," according to a high official with China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). He said, the implementation of the rules will protect tourists' rights and interest. As China develops its mar

New Tracks Set to Make Tibetans More Mobile
Tibetans have always dreamed of one day having an opportunity to travel by train in their own province, according to China Daily on May 21. Although railways have crossed countries for many years, Caidan Zuoma, who lives near Lhasa, has only seen them on her television set. "I have always wished that one day I would be able to ride the 'floating black bug' and go to Beijing and other wonderful places in China. I imagine it is much better than a long, arduous journey on bumpy roads," she said. In

100,000 Chinese to Spend the New Year Aboard
More and more Chinese people spend the seven-day Lunar New Year aboard at their own expenses, which hits historically high this year, the China News Agency reported today. According to the statistics, at least hundreds of thousands of people plan to spend the New Year in foreign countries and Special Administrative Regions of China, and it is predicted that 20,000 Guangzhou people are going to spend the New Year in Hong Kong and Macau. Up to 150,000 Shanghai people will travel aboard in this hol

Traveling in Japan Much Cheaper
Since Japan opened travel market to China last year,the package tour expenses slumped from 20,000yuan (US$2409.60)for a week-long tour to more than 8,000yuan for a five-day tour,or down some 50percent,the Beijing Morning Post reported today. Some large travel agencies,such as China International Travel Services and China Travel Agency,have dropped the prices of their five-day Japan tour to 8,180-8,450yuan,with Beijing Shenzhou International Travel Agency claiming theirs is lowest price nationwid

Tens of Thousands of Rare Carp Die
Several major water-supplying rivers of Qinghai Lake have run dry due to drought and man-made development since the beginning of July, causing the mass death of a rare carp.

The fish - Gymnocypris przewalskii - are only found in the region, in their spawning migration from the lake to its tributaries.

According to Beijing-based China Meteorological Paper, tens of thousands of parent fish got stranded on the river bed of the Shaliu River, the second largest spawning ground for the c

Road Mishap Kills 3 Mainlanders, Injures 21 Taiwanese
A road accident killed three mainlanders and injured 21 Taiwanese tourists in Guizhou Province, southwest China, Monday. All the injured Taiwanese have been hospitalized and are in stable conditions so far. The families of the Taiwanese have been informed of the accident and some of the relatives have arrived Tuesday in Guiyang. The mishap took place in Anshun, on the highway between Guiyang, the provincial capital, and Huangguoshu, a scenic place known for its big falls, at around 8 p.m., when

HK Travel Service Eyes Mainland
China Travel Service Hong Kong Ltd's aggressive march into the mainland travel market could add fuel to the fires of fierce competition already burning through out the sector. Aiming to fully tap the mainland tourist market, China Travel Service Hong Kong (CTSHK) plans to acquire 200 domestic travel agencies in two years, according to Shen Zhuying, president of the company. Shen said CTSHK is planning to reinforce its tourist services on the mainland, establish branch offices across the country

Three Tenors Stage a Gala Show in Beijing
The Three Tenors, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, tonight had eyes from around the world glued onto this remote and ancient country, reminding the audience of Marco Polo, who traveled to Beijing 700 years ago. But songs have replaced travel notes. An estimated audience of three billion watched the concert held inside Beijing's Forbidden City on television, and some 30,000 viewers were at the concert in person, including Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing and other distinguishe

Chinese Zoo Sentences Lion to 'Life Imprisonment' for Injuring Tourists
A lion in China's Wuhan Forest Wild Animal Zoo has been condemned to spend the rest of its life in a cage after injuring two tourists, the Shanghai Morning Post reported on Tuesday. The stiff sentence provoked an outcry from locals in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province, the paper said. "A mother and son were throwing hens to the lion from the open window of a bus travelling through the park, filled with untamed wild animals, on the morning of October 6, the paper said. However

Which is Better, Dreams or Reality?
Xue Yiwei, a Shenzhen-based novelist, has, for the past nine years, been looking for his spiritual home, like Odysseus on his way back home. He has finally found his Ithaca in the new century. He has had over a dozen short stories and novels published in such influential literary magazines as "People's Literature," "Hibiscus," "Harvest," and "Writers" in 2000 and early this year. All these are strong evidence that his search was not in vain, but what is even more important and unique is the way

Beijing Shows High-Tech Side to IOC Inspectors
And the Chinese capital also demonstrated before the visiting evaluation commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). With the support of high technologies, Beijing made assurances to the IOC inspectors that the Games will be blessed by pleasant weather, well-controlled traffic, adequate supply of clean energy like natural gas and high-quality services from the medical staff. Bolstered by massive investment in urban road building, officials of the Beijing Traffic Control Center (BTCC

Foreign Visitors to Get Visas to Pearl River Delta in Macao
Fifty-four travel agencies in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will be able to go through the visa procedures for the foreign tourists who head for the Pearl River Delta in southern China from Macao. The SAR government has received an official notification from the China National Tourism Administration. In line with it, the Macao travel agencies are entitled to handle the visa issue for the foreign visitors to nine cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan Dongguan, Z

Black Sheep Lurk in Tour Industry
The arrival of the May 1 touring season will provide a boost to China's domestic tourism sector but it could also embolden some black sheep in the industry to take advantage of unwitting travellers. This is the message being sent by the recently disclosed "Zhongtian case." In that case, three men claiming to represent Beijing-based Zhongtian Travel Service set up shop in a rented hotel room and placed advertisements for attractive tour packages. Between December and February, 355 people responde

Pure Land, Proud People
Under a clear, blue sky, the mountainous Liangshan area is home to minority people struggling to maintain their unique cultures. It also hosts one of China's satellite centres. The beauty of my hometown Liangshan Yi Minority Autonomous Region was lost on me until one day four years ago. At that time, one of my Polish friends, upon her arrival at my home in Xichang, the capital city of the region in southwestern Sichuan Province in Southwest China, exclaimed, "The scenery along the railway is mag

Airline Traffic Volume Expands
China Eastern Airlines said yesterday its total traffic volume rose 13.2 percent in the first six months to 1.126 billion ton-kilometers from the same period last year following an increase in its daily aircraft utilization. The Shanghai-based carrier said it hasn't expanded its fleet despite the traffic growth. "Our daily aircraft utilization in the period reached nine hours, an average increase of nearly one hour, the highest in the company's history," said Zhang Linchang, a China Eastern spok

Nation Celebrating Lunar New Year
China ushered in the Year of Snake, the first Lunar New Year in the 21st Century, amidst celebrations and festivities across the nation. From Beijing to Shanghai in the central part, from Guangzhou in the south to Hohhot in the north, from Lhasa to Urumqi, people across China are celebrating the most cherished traditional festival of family reunion and carnival, known as the Spring Festival, with varieties of activities and plentiful of food. The joyful moment reminds people of the remarkable ac

Tourists Get A Welcome
The southern provinces along the Yangtze River are welcoming their golden tourist season as grass turns green and flowers blossom. Many hotels and restaurants in the scenic cities of the region have been booked in advance, according to a survey by the China National Tourism Administration. Experts think the provinces south of the Yangtze River have become the most-popular destinations during the peak travel season. Many tourist agencies began to promote their favorable routes as early as Februar

Farmer Pursues Painting on the Side
Dou Xizhen, a farmer from Tianjin's suburbs who little more than a primary school education, has never had the chance to travel to the famous Dunhuang Grottoes in Northwest China's Gansu Province, but a number of the figures he depicts in his paintings evoke images from Buddhist murals found in the caves. In one sense Dou is the farmer painter. His subject matter comes from the countryside, rural landscapes, the lives of farmers, local customs and folk tales, and all of it is painted in what app

More Foreign Travel Agencies Welcomed
China will speed up its deregulation of the tourism industry and allow more foreign travel agencies to enter the sector, according to officials from the China State Tourism Bureau. Wang Chaoyao, vice-director of the bureau's Planning and Development Department, said his bureau has approved the establishment of eight Sino-foreign joint venture travel agencies. "It is a sign that we have decided to beef up the sector's opening to overseas investment," Wang said. Travel agencies are the final secto

Hunan Set to Boost Tourism
Hunan Province wants to attract more investment to build itself into a tourism centre in Central China. He Tongxin, vice-governor of the province, said tourism will be the service sector's priority growth area. He added Hunan will also encourage domestic and foreign investment. Hunan has abundant tourism sites and the sector is a booming industry in the province. "We are determined to make Hunan a big tourist province by tapping all its resources," He said. In 2000, about 450,000 overseas and 46

More Individuals in Changsha Have Cars
Individuals in Changsha, capital city of central China's Hunan Province, had 59,600 cars at the end of last year, according to a survey. The figure has risen at an average rate of 1,000 per month since the beginning of this year. At the end of 2000, the number of motor vehicles for civilian use rose 19.92 percent from the previous year to 93,727, with private cars accounting for 64 percent of the total. In 2000 alone, 38,000 motor vehicles were sold in the city, more than double the figure for t

Chinese Soccer Stars Make Impact in WUSA
Though it seemed nothing unusual for the players involved, the near collision between Chinese players Sun Wen of the Atlanta Beat and goalkeeper Gao Hong of the New York Power was exceptional. The meeting of China's top stars as rivals in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) weekend match in Atlanta was a triumph for a league that recruited the best from every team in the world, including the United States' top rivals. After sitting on the bench for 78 minutes following a December operat

Chinese Navy Pays Goodwill Visit to Europe
Two ships of Chinese navy left Shanghai Thursday for a goodwill visit to Germany, Britain, France and Italy. The two ships -- the Shenzhen, a guided missile destroyer, and the Fengcang, a support vessel-- were both designed and manufactured in China, and will visit the European continent for the first time. The ships will travel over 23,000 sea miles in 85 days, equivalent to circling the earth via the equator. Wu Fuchun, commander of the naval ships, said that this visit marks that Chinese nava

Shanxi Opens Charter Tourist Flight to Singapore
North China's Shanxi Province has opened recently a new charter flight for tourists from Singapore to Taiyuan, the provincial capital. A local travel agency cooperated with four Singaporean counterparts to open the flight. It takes just 5 and half hours from Singapore to Taiyuan in an Airbus A340. Singaporean tourists used to fly to the province via Beijing, and the opening of the new route will promote the local tourism development.

Top 100 Chinese Travel Agencies Named
China's top 100 international travel service providers and the National Tourism Administration (NTA) has named top 100 domestic travel agencies in the year 2000. China International Travel Service, the China Youth Travel Service and the China Travel Service (CTS) were ranked the three best among some 1,200 international travel service providers. The Shanghai-based Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn) Travel Service, the Hangzhou Garden Tourism and Trade Company in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province

Air China to Add 300 More Extra, Charter Flights in Holiday
Air China is to add 314 more extra and charter flights to its normal schedule in the upcoming National day holiday. From September 30 to October 7, Air China will join hands with the tourism administration to promote the traveling week. The number of domestic charter flights will total 166, and the number of extra flights will amount to 77. The major destinations for the extra flights are located in southern China, such as Guangzhou, Haikou, Sanya and Mount Wuyi. The number of extra and charter

Guilin Receives Record 9.63 Million Tourists
Guilin, world famous for its picturesque mountains and rivers, received 9.63 million Chinese and overseas tourists last year. The figure represented an increase of 7.27 percent from the previous year, according to the Tourism Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Guilin, a tourism city in Guangxi, was visited by 950,000 tourists from overseas in 2000, up nearly 57 percent from the previous year, higher than any other tourism city in China. In 2000, Guilin invested two billion yuan

Sixth Mekong Tourism Forum to Be Held
The Sixth Mekong Tourism Forum will be held from March 3 to April 2 in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. The forum is to be jointly organized by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Asian Development Bank, the Pacific-Asia Travel Association, the National Tourism Administration of China and the People's Government of Yunnan. During the forum, experts from countries where the Mekong River runs through and from Europe, the United States and Australia will concentrate on

Scientific Survey on No-man Zone Qiangtang Soon
Chinese scientists will conduct the country's first scientific survey of the no-man zone in northwest Qiangtang, Tibet. A survey team will leave Beijing soon to the zone, according to the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. The survey will focus on saline biology resources, saline, saline biology resources, ecosystem, terrestrial heat resources, terrestrial heat mineral resources and so on. The team will travel about 8,000 kilometers. The survey will cover an area of 100,000 square kilometer

Tibetan Farmers Choosing Spouses in Wider Areas
With the rapid economic and social progress in recent years, farmers in the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China have increased their exchanges and contacts with the outside world. As a result they are choosing their spouses in wider areas. Norbu Qoizhoi, who got married recently, lives in the Pozhang Township, in Shannan Prefecture. The home of her husband Lhagba Cering is more than 100 kilometers away. They got to know each other when they worked in Lhasa, the regional capital. To the el

Public Security Bureau to Ensure Peaceful National Day Holiday
The Public Security Ministry has called for the utmost efforts of public security forces at all levels to ensure that the Chinese people enjoy a peaceful National Day holiday over the next week. The holiday period is also one of the country's major tourism weeks, during which many people travel to tourist destinations across China. In a notice, the Bureau said that violations of public security, including theft, explosions and unexpected accidents, must be guarded against, adding that related de

Injured Taiwanese to Fly Home
Ten Taiwanese tourists are set to fly home Friday, with a stopover in Hong Kong, after making a full recovery from shock following a fatal bus accident in Southwest China's Guizhou Province on Monday. The remaining 11 Taiwanese will continue to stay in a leading hospital in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province. Local authorities said yesterday that they will head home in the near future. Matters in the wake of the mishap, which killed three mainland people on the highway between Guiyang and Huan

Injured Taiwanese to Fly Home
Ten Taiwanese tourists are set to fly home today, with a stopover in Hong Kong, after making a full recovery from shock following a fatal bus accident in Southwest China's Guizhou Province on Monday. The remaining 11 Taiwanese will continue to stay in a leading hospital in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province. Local authorities said yesterday that they will head home in the near future. Matters in the wake of the mishap, which killed three mainland people on the highway between Guiyang and Huang

Public Security Ministry to Ensure Peaceful Holidays
The Ministry of Public Security has called for the utmost efforts of public security forces at all levels to ensure that the Chinese people enjoy a peaceful National Day holiday over the next week. The holiday period is also one of the country's major tourism weeks, during which many people travel to tourist destinations across China. In a notice, the bureau said that violations of public security, including theft, explosions and unexpected accidents, must be guarded against, adding that related

Tourism Sector Booming in China
The people traveled in China increased from January to September with the foreign exchange revenue trending upward, according to the National Tourism Administration, eastday.com reported today. In September, the foreigners traveling in China increased by 5.98 percent from the same period of last year. Affecting by the September 11 terrorist attacks, the number of travelers from the United States declined by 11.06 percent from a year before. There were less people from Russia, Mongolia and Singap

Travel Insurance May Surge
The domestic travel insurance market may take off this fall thanks to the China National Tourism Administration's recent rule requiring travel operators to buy liability insurance from domestic insurers beginning on September 1. Travel agencies that fail to purchase the policies will face "severe punishment," the administration said in a statement. The insurance policies will cover travelers' financial losses due to death, illness, injury, accident, theft or damage through fire and other hazards

Hua Du Hotel Granted Honorary Title
Hua Du Hotel was granted the China National "Best of Hotel" Award of February by the NearChina International Tourism Organization composed of over 200 travel agencies from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Located in the downtown area of Beijing with a refreshing environment, Hua Du Hotel is easy of access and adjacent to the embassy area. Built in a traditional style, Hua Du is installed with modern service facilities and operating under a computerized manageme

Bush Cuts Short Asia Trip, to Reschedule Beijing Visit
US President George W Bush will attend a meeting of Asian leaders in Shanghai next month but has postponed planned stops in Japan, South Korea and Beijing, the White House announced on Tuesday. "President Bush has modified his planned travel to Asia in October," spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a written statement issued two weeks after suicide plane attacks on Washington and New York left almost 7,000 people dead or missing. Another plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. He said Bush would atten

Yunnan Vows to Clean Up Tourism Spots
Yunnan Province, a favorite tourist destination in China, is taking steps to clean up the trash left scattered about by the increasing number of visitors. The Yunnan provincial government urged 23 tourism spots to clean up, including Xishuangbanna, a well-known tropical forest, Dali, a world-famous ancient city, and the Stone Forest. The government said in a recent circular that pollution in the 23 scenic spots of Yunnan has been very heavy, mainly because there are no effective methods to dispo

60 Million Tourists Forecast in Labor Day
China's domestic tourist market will see during the forthcoming week-long International Labor Day holiday a record high of 60 million domestic travelers, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said Wednesday. The figure will be about 30 percent more than in the same holiday last year and the tourism industry is expecting to earn a total of 20 billion yuan during the period, the CNTA said. The seven-day holiday starts May 1. About 46 million people traveled during the holiday last year,

Celebrating Spring Festival Holidays in New Ways
Rather than staying at home, more and more Chinese people prefer to travel during the Spring Festival holidays, the most important traditional holiday in China. Nearly 300,000 Chinese people will go to Hainan, China's southernmost province, to spend the seven-day holiday, according to the tourism departments in Hainan. Another 200,000 people plan to spend the holidays in Guilin in south China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Chen, from northeast China's Shenyang province, one of the coldest are

Magic Lantern to Illuminate Capital City
Long Beach Ballet Theatre will travel all the way from California to Beijing to present two evening performances of its Arabic-flavored fairy tale ballet, "Aladdin" at the Poly Theatre on August 3 and 4. With "The Magic Lantern of Aladdin," the group relates an old legend which still retains a fascination in the 21st century. Taken from the world-famous collection of Arabic folk tales, "One Thousand and One Nights," the story has been regarded as an ever shining pearl in the world's literary tre

Shanghai Holidayers Eye Distant Destinations
Local residents have been getting ready to travel during the long holidays, not only the seven-day National Day vacation but also for the five days beginning October 17 during the meetings of the Asia Pacific Economy Co-operation. ``The prospect of two vacations has left Shanghai people quite mad about getting out of the city,'' said Zhou Mingde, an official of the Shanghai China International Travel Service Group. Travelling abroad has become popular this year. Statistics from the agency show t

Law Sought to Foster Growing Tourist Industry
China's top tourism administration has urged the acceleration of the legislation process to deal with problems in the expanding holiday industry to guarantee its further development. "A comprehensive law is urgently needed to change the legal relationship in the industry that is more complicated than before," said Zhang Shumin, a National Tourism Administration official in charge of policy and laws. The official also noted that as the definition of the tourism industry has not been clarified by

Tourist Hot Spots Get Ready for the Holiday
With the May Day holiday just around the corner, most hotels in major tourist cities in the country have reportedly been booked up in advance. Tourism information released by the National Tourism Administration on Wednesday warned that tourists should book hotel rooms as early as possible if they want to travel during the seven-day holiday. The information briefing said all major tourist cities had performed special inspections of top tourist sites and hotels and the results showed that traveler

Jiuzhaigou Tickets Sell out Ahead of National Day Week
Administrative authorities at Jiuzhaigou (Nine-Village Gully), a popular scenic spot tucked away in the mountains in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, announced recently that all entrance tickets for the National Day holiday have been sold and travelers who plan to visit the area without a ticket should rethink their plans. According to Feng Gang, director of the Jiuzhaigou Administrative Bureau, tickets sold out a full five days before the National Day holiday is scheduled to begin. The holid

Vacationers Set to Hit The Road
Chinese people are gearing up to enjoy the coming week-long National Day holidays, which begins on October 1 and coincides this year with the Mid Autumn Festival, a traditional occasion for family reunions,according to today's China Daily. Railway and air tickets to hot tourist destinations are in great demand these days. More than 90 per cent of this weekend's air tickets from Shenzhen to Kunming, Guiyang and Chengdu have been booked, according to national tourist departments. And more than 90

Tibetans Interested in Current Affairs
Wangdui, a Tibetan businessman, has made a habit of beginning each day by reading newspapers at the dinner table in his well-furnished yurt, just like some westerners do. Back home every evening, he watches the news program offered by the China Central Television Station at 7:00 PM. while eating supper with other family members. He also closely follows the stock quotes to seize opportunities for shares trading. "I felt it is just like missing a nice meal without watching TV for a single day beca

Boeing Delivers First 737-600 to China
It is the first of three 737-600s scheduled to be delivered this year to the Chengdu-based airline company. The jetliners are being leased through GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) of the United States. "We are pleased that China Southwest Airlines is the first operator of the 737-600 in China," said Larry Dickenson, Boeing senior vice president of sales. "The airline is modernizing their fleet and chose the 737-600 based on its reliability and quality." The new 737-600, with capacity to hold

No Stress as Travel Problems Solved
Holidaymakers during the coming ``golden tourism period'' will find it very easy to complain about their difficulties to officials even if scenic spots become swamped with people,according to today's China Daily. Tourism administrations at central and provincial levels have prepared well for a potential travelling frenzy during the National Day holidays, said He Guangwei, director of the National Tourism Administration. ``Our target is to guarantee the safety of tourists, the market order and th

Bus Trip to Beijing Upgraded
After five months of trial operation, Xinguoxian (Shanghai) Passenger Transport Co. officially opened yesterday to provide more comfortable express long-distance road transport service between Shanghai and Beijing. The company has doubled its fleet by adding 10 new luxurious coaches, each offering 32 fixed beds and manned with two drivers and an attendant. Worth 2.5 million yuan (US$300,000) each, the new coaches are the most expensive vehicles deployed in China's long-distance land transport se

Online Travel Office Opens
Once again proving its position as a pioneer in reforming traditional business models, South China's Guangdong Province launched a nationwide tourism information pilot project at the end of March. Via a pioneering online travel agency in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, people can quickly conclude all their tourism application procedures and make payments. Sponsored by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), the project, which goes under the title of "The Golden Tourism Project,

Historical Sites Draw Tourists' Attention
Sites witnessing revolutionary activities since 1921 are expected to be busy tourist spots in the lead-up to the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China on July 1,according to today's China Daily. Tours to historical sites being dubbed "red travel" include one to the Jinggang Mountains, where Mao Zedong set up China's first farmer revolutionary base area in 1927. Yan'an, the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1936-47 in Shaanxi Province, Northwest Ch

Vacationers Set to Hit the Road
Chinese people are gearing up to enjoy the coming week-long National Day holidays, which begin on October 1 and coincides this year with the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional occasion for family reunions. Railway and air tickets to hot tourist destinations are in great demand these days. More than 90 per cent of this weekend's air tickets from Shenzhen to Kunming, Guiyang and Chengdu have been booked, according to national tourist departments. And more than 90 per cent of air tickets for Octobe

Bus Trip to Beijing Upgraded
After five months of trial operation, Xinguoxian (Shanghai) Passenger Transport Co. officially opened yesterday to provide express long-distance road transport service between Shanghai and Beijing. The company has doubled its fleet by adding 10 new luxurious coaches, each offering 32 fixed beds and manned with two drivers and an attendant. Worth 2.5 million yuan (US$300,000) each, the new coaches are the most expensive vehicles deployed in China's long-distance land transport service so far. "To

Foreign Tourists to Vietnam Increase
More than 600,000 foreign tourists visited Vietnam in the first six months of this year,an increase of 15.5 percent over the same period last year,local daily Vietnam News reported today. However,the figure accounts for just under half the country's target of 1,250,000 foreign visitors for the year 2001. The United States,Japan and China are among the countries which have most tourists to Vietnam. As many as 27,331 American tourists visited Vietnam in the first half of this year,an increase of 6

Mongolian Medicine Gains World Following
In Chinese, "Mongolian doctor" is a negative term used to describe a doctor of rough leechcraft. In the popular TV series "Gate of a Big House," for example, a Mongolian doctor is described as "better for animals than for human beings." It's a joke among Han Chinese, but the line is offensive to many Mongolian medical practitioners in China. "We feel hurt by this line, which is based on a bias against medicines of ethnic groups," said B Jigmed, a professor of Mongolian medicine from the Inner Mo

Sino-French Travel Service Operational in Beijing
Beijing Capital Tourism Group established over the weekend a joint venture with France's ACCOR, the world's third biggest tourism group. This is the ninth Sino-foreign joint-venture travel services in China and also Beijing's first travel service in cooperation with an European country. The newly established travel service will work to attract more tourists from Europe and other parts of the world by introducing advanced computerized tourism management system and improving training of staff. It

Wild Canada Brought to Beijing
No long queues of visitors waiting anxiously for tickets. No flood of flattering reports in local newspapers. Beijingers have greeted a Canadian landscape painting exhibition in a quiet manner compared to the craze for tickets when Spanish painter Salvador Dali's show came last summer. But the exhibition "Terre Sauvage: Canadian Landscape Painting and the Group of Seven," now showing at the Yanhuang Art Museum until May 20, is by no means lightweight. All 73 oil paintings on display were done by

Stuttgart Brings Splendid Sounds
Beijing's Poly Theatre will play host to The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, one of the world's most renowned chamber orchestras this evening. The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1945 by Karl Munchinger, has built its reputation on battling the influence of romanticism in modern interpretations of masters like Bach and Mozart. Now they are bringing their acclaimed music to the Chinese capital. The orchestra's comprehensive discography includes benchmark recordings of Bach's "Brandenburg Con

Ancient Tomb Dates Back to Western Han Dynasty Found
A large tomb dating back the Western Han Dynasty ?ê?§BC 206-AD 24?ê? has been found in an expressway construction site, in the western suburbs of Jinyuan County, north China's Shanxi Province. Unearthed articles are 40 bronze vessels such as swords, pots with eight edges and six bronze chariot models. Judging from five grave pits which maybe are subordinate burials, the occupant of the tomb is supposed to be a high-ranking nobleman. The tomb is the fourth one dating back to the Qin Dynasty ?ê?§B

China Travel Sees Big Market Potential
Lured by the increasing popularity of tourism on the mainland, China Travel Service (Holdings) HK (CTS Holdings) vows to tap the market potential by increasing its market manoeuvres. "We are preparing to enlarge our market shares on the mainland dramatically through means of acquisition, merger, shareholding and co-operation," said Che Shujian, chairman of CTS Holdings. Che said the group is now negotiating with several mainland-based tourist companies, but he did not name them. The group has so

Shanghai, Taipei Forum for Trust
Visits and discussions on urban development should take place on a larger scale between Shanghai and Taipei, said Taipei Deputy Mayor Bai Hsui-hsiung Tuesday at the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum. "More effort should be made at cultural events to pave the way for exchanges between artists and writers, athletes, students and professionals so that a mechanism of exchanges can be set up between the two cities," said Bai. Bai said he hoped frequent contact could improve mutual understanding and trust, l

From Quack Medicine to Bona Fide Cures
In Chinese, "Mongolian doctor" is a negative term used to describe a doctor of rough leechcraft. In the popular TV series "Gate of a Big House," for example, a Mongolian doctor is described as "better for animals than for human beings." It's a joke among Han Chinese, but the line is offensive to many Mongolian medical practitioners in China. "We feel hurt by this line, which is based on a bias against medicines of ethnic groups," said B Jigmed, a professor of Mongolian medicine from the Inner Mo

Zhejiang Launches Plan to Attract Tourists
Zhejiang Province in east China is working to double the number of overseas tourist arrivals and tourism income in five years, according to a development plan. On a yearly basis the province will have received two million overseas tourists and earned US$1 billion in tourism income by 2005, compared with last year's 1.1 million and US$1514 million. Yao Shenghou, deputy director of the provincial tourism bureau, said that the province has offered a new travel route called "Beautiful Scenery of Zhe

Hong Kong-Lhasa Direct Flights Soon
Direct flights between Hong Kong and Lhasa by China Southwest Airlines will start on July 21. China Southwest Airlines will use a special refitted Boeing 757--200 aircraft that is suitable for flying to the plateau,to serve the route.The first flight will be from Hong Kong to Lhasa. Hong Kong travelers can choose their own route to Lhasa or Shigatse and the Tibet travel agency can arrange tours to Hong Kong.Without the Hong Kong-Lhasa direct flight,Hong Kong travelers had to fly to Chengdu first

Cool Crowd, Hot Vacation
Editor's note: This year's National Day happens to be the Moon Festival - the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, an important Chinese traditional holiday for family reunions besides the Spring Festival. The coincidence makes the week-long National Day holiday season (October 1-7) more attractive to those who either want to travel or stay at home. China Daily reporters Wang Shanshan from Nanjing, Zhang Qian from Shanghai, Hu Xiaodan from Guangzhou and Zhao Jin from Beijing talked to five people

Mainland, Taiwan Plan Joint Oil and Gas Project
Leading oil producer of the Chinese mainland China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) Ltd is finalising plans with Taiwan's China Petroleum Corp to jointly search for oil and gas in the Taiwan Strait, a report said on Tuesday. The contract is tentatively scheduled to be signed in November, CNOOC chairman and chief executive officer Wei Liucheng said in an interview with the Asian Wall Street Journal. A China Petroleum official confirmed the planned joint exploration, under the Tainan Basin, but s

Passenger Transport Expands Fast in Tibet
A complex highway network has taken shape in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, rendering better connections for the region with the rest of the country and the outside world. The network includes 110 passenger transport routes within Tibet, and another 13 leading to other provinces and cities, local official sources said. In Tibet, there are now 12 large terminals and more than 10,000 vehicles engaged in passenger transport, which can handle more than 120,000 passengers a year. At present, m

Foreigners Grapple with Chinese
Olivia Codeville Delobel was always confused by Chinese words that had totally different meanings depending on the tone that was used. "It's too difficult for me to catch the subtle change of tones," said the French woman who started to learn Chinese two months ago. For example, the pinyin word fanyi, can mean "interpret" or "antonym," depending on the tone. Delobel is attending a Chinese language training class, learning the Chinese drills of "I have two cinema tickets. How about going to the c

China Dunhuang International Cultural, Tourism Festival Opens
The first China Dunhuang International Cultural, Tourism Festival opened Tuesday night in northwest China's Gansu Province, attracting more attention to the travel site on the ancient Silk Road. More than 1,100 visitors from both at home and abroad will participate in the three-day festival, during which various tourism activities, exhibitions and trade talks will be held. The Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, included on the World Heritage Protection List, drew over 600,000 visitors last year, earnin

Bracing for Peak Tourist Season in May
Many different areas across China, especially popular tourism sites, have been busy preparing for the forthcoming week-long peak tourist season starting May 1. Officials with the Ministry of Communications estimated that some 280 million people would travel around the country during the week-long holiday. Tourism officials in Beijing said that during May 1-7, more air flights and additional railway, subway and bus services will be available for tourists, while more parking lots will be opened at

Beijing Inspects Tourist Attractions for Security
A group of Beijing officials in charge of public security and tourism inspected some key tourist sites here Saturday, making sure the areas are safe for the travel blitz during China's week-long National Day celebration that starts Oct.1. Among the checked sites were the Summer Palace, the Palace Museum and the Badaling Section of the Great Wall, which are especially popular to visitors both at home and from abroad. An officer with the Beijing Public Security Bureau said that most of the enterta

President Jiang Meets Yeltsin
President Jiang Zemin and his wife Wang Yeping met Monday evening with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his wife Naina who are in China on vacation as Jiang's guests. This is the 10th meeting between Jiang and Yeltsin since 1992. Jiang said he is delighted to see that Yeltsin is in good health. Yeltsin also expressed his pleasure at meeting again in Beijing with Jiang, an old friend of his, saying that China is his first vacation destination since he stepped down from his post as Russi

Ancient Silk Road Expands Eastward
The 94-km-long expressway which forms part of the national trunk linking northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region with Qingdao, a coastal city in east China, opened to traffic Friday. It means that the famous 2,000-year-old Silk Road now has a new outlet to China's eastern coast. The new expressway starts from Guyaozi and terminates in Wangjuanliang, both located in Ningxia, through which the ancient Silk Road passed. The expressway, built up to international standards, costs 1.1 billion

Travelers From China in Demand
Tourism promoters are visiting China in record numbers in an effort to tap the traveling market in the most-populous and rapidly developing nation in the world, agency reported. "The battle has already begun for the world to attract Chinese tourists," Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization, said during a March visit. The main reason: In 2000, the country's Gross Domestic Product surpassed US$1,000 billion for the first time, with individual bank deposit savings

Japan Airlines to Apologize
The conflict between a group of Chinese passengers and a Japanese airline might be settled through mediation since the Japanese side has agreed to apologize for the event. Before that, the passengers -- who believed they were unfairly treated by Japan Airlines during their stop at a Japanese airport in late January -- planned to bring legal action against the Japanese company. This message was confirmed Thursday by Li Hao, a spokesman for the Chinese passengers, and Wang Xiaobin, lawyer and spok

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