Famous beach in S. China to return to original beauty

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 ◆ Famous beach in S. China to return to original beauty

Too much tourism can be a bad thing, and administrators of the popular "Silver Beach" in Beihai, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, now know that.

They are ordering the demolition of the numerous facilities built on the beach in the beginning of the 1990s, partly out of the belief that tourists would prefer to see it in its natural beauty.

Another worry is that after a field study, specialists reported the beach has shrunk and the sand become slightly tainted in recent years. The springing up of hotels and restaurants on the beach is blamed for the change.

One beach restaurant owner, a man surnamed Liang, said he and many other locals agree with the cleansing effort.

"If the situation continues to worsen, we'll all lose our businesses," he said.

Beihai City received 3.5 million tourists in 2001, seven times the population of the city.

Situated some 10 kilometers away from Beihai's downtown area, the 24-km-long beach is known as an excellent tourist resort with gentle slopes, silver sand, beautiful sea and clean air.