Of Tourism
With rich resources and better infrastructure and services, China’s tourism industry grows more competitive By Wang Hairong
When “little brother Ma,” a tour guide in north China’s Tianjin, took out his “flag” and hung it on his flagpole, there were peals of laughter in the tourist coach. It was no conventional flag but a doll fashioned from a cartoon character, once his daughter’s favorite toy.
“For the rest of the day, please remember this doll and follow it closely,” he said.
The toy immediately endeared him to the children onboard, ranging from 4 to 12 years old, who were accompanied by their parents and grandparents. These were families from Beijing who had gone to neighboring Tianjin to get a quick taste of the city’s scenery and culture on a spring weekend.
The tourists were first driven to an Italianstyle street packed with visitors, including young girls wearing crowns of flowers. Then they visited China House, a ceramics museum; the Tianjin Eye, a giant Ferris wheel over the Haihe River, a landmark similar to the London Eye; and a historical street lined up with eateries and shops. The day concluded with a boat ride along the Haihe River near the place where it empties into the sea.
The tour was more than just sightseeing. During hiatuses, Ma good-humoredly briefed the group on Tianjin’s history and the cultural difference between Beijing and Tianjin. Traditional Beijing men are he-men, even verging on the chauvinistic, whereas Tianjin men are caring and take care of the family by doing things generally regarded as women’s work, he said.
Holding himself up as an example, he said, “My first stop after work is always a grocery store. Then I rush back home to cook dinner.”
Children enjoyed the boat ride, accompanied by seagulls soaring above. They were especially fascinated by a clown and two “monkey kings” posing with visitors on a square near a historical street.
Optimistic outlook
An elderly man in the group remarked that Tianjin was much more charming than the city he remembered visiting two decades ago. Now it has more stylish buildings and more attractive tourist programs, he said.
Spring is a peak travel season in China. As trees turn green and flowers bloom, people across the country come out to embrace the rejuvenating season. The result is a tourist wave rippling across the country.
In a period of three days near the Qingming Festival in early April, 93 million visits to various tourist spots were made all over the country, yielding a total income of 39 billion yuan ($5.7 billion), according to China National Tourism Administration figures.
In Beijing, tourists swarmed to famous historical places such as the Palace Museum, the Summer Palace and the Beihai Park, and other parks featuring various flowers in full bloom.
In February, the China Tourism Academy (CTA) released an optimistic forecast about the tourism industry in 2017. It stated that “domestic tourism will continue to grow and outbound tourism will develop rationally, while inbound tourism will continue to pick up. Tourism investment will remain high and tourism employment will grow steadily.”
Last year, China’s scenic sites received more than 4.4 billion visits by tourists from both home and abroad, which generated a total