In China, comprising the fastest growing domestic tourism market in the world, in 2005 the number of in-country excursionists exceeded 1.2 billion, and total tourism revenue amounted to more than 528 billion yuan. A rising force in the industry, countryside resorts across China now welcome more than 300 million tourists annually, generating a total revenue exceeding 40 billion yuan.
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The lifestyle of rural families in LiupanVillage in the suburbs of Sanya, HainanProvince, interests the children of large cities. |
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Just a few years ago, for provincial locals it would had been a jaw-dropping spectacle to behold. But now commonly observed in the more rural regions of China are groups of foreign sightseers. They may be following behind a local farmer and guide, cycling down a country road, exploring the water caves of Yangshuo in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, strolling the charming streets of ancient LijiangTown in YunnanProvince, or otherwise going about their leisurely business in one of the many parts of this ever-more welcoming nation’s vast countryside.
In 2005 the average annual income for farmers serving as a tourist guide in the countryside of YangshuoCounty amounted to about 8,000 yuan, more than twice the per capita net income of Guangxi farmers. According to Yu Xiaojun, deputy director of the Tourism Administration of Guangxi, about 1,000 female farmers in Yangshuo are presently engaged in the tourist guide.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, the tranquil, idyllic countryside of the western Sichuan Plain attracted waves of citizens from nearby Chengdu who came to taste the countryside food, stay in the quaint homes of local farmers, and experience rural ways of production and life.
And so 2006 was designated by the China National Tourism Administration as “China Rural Tourism Year.” According to the ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences, rural tourism refers to a kind of social activity based on countryside tourism resources that is targeted to the promotion of economic development in rural areas. Farmers have come to be the main players in this sector.
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Countryside landscapes draw in city dwellers.by Xinhua News Agency |
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Countryside Commerce
Two years ago, Yezizhai (Coconut) Village in QionghaiCity, HainanProvince, was mainly inhabited by people of the Li ethnic group. The village was reconstructed as a tourist resort for the exhibition and promotion of Li ethnic customs, Li-styled granaries, bamboo hats, coir raincoats, various farming tools, and local tropical fruits, such as coconut, guava, and pawpaw. Tourists can also stay at Li homes as “guest farmers,” working and eating together with local villagers. Today, Yezizhai averages about 600 visiting tourists a day. During the last seven-day holiday of Spring Festival, villager Fu Hecai earned a tourist-derived income greater than his total past average annual income.
According to Chi Fulin, economist and executive president of the China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development, as traditional customs diminished in popularity in modern cities, they still prevail in rural areas. Now these traditional traits are a major attracting component of countryside tourism. Chi adds that the well-preserved ecological environments are another important tourist advantage inherent to rural areas.
In 2005, the number of China’s domestic excursionists exceeded 1.2 billion, and tourism revenue reached 528.6 billion yuan. These numbers add up to represent the fastest-growing domestic tourism market in the world.
Countryside tourism provides a new approach for the development of a new socialist countryside, says Shao Qiwei, director of the National Tourism Administration. To encourage expanding tourism, some of the forests, farmlands, orchards, houses, and courtyards have been and will be refit into tourism sites or tourism facilities. As major participants, farmers will be involved in investing and management, and they will become direct beneficiaries.
Xingfucun (HappinessVillage) in the suburbs of Chengdu, received nearly 400,000 tourists during the period of last Spring Festival, largely thanks to the village’s Plum Blossom Festival. Flush toilets, optical-fiber TV cables, and asphalt roads add modern amenities to the village. At present, just their renting of accommodations yields each household an additional income of nearly 50,000 yuan per year.
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A tourist spot conceived by farmers of Datong County, Qinghai Province. |
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Foreigners Find the Countryside
The primary promotional slogan for the 2006 China Rural Tourism Year: “New Countryside, New Tourism, New Experiences, New Trends.”
Upon their emergence, China’s countryside touring packages were well-received. The home-visiting activities, adding a new and popular tour package element to Dali, Shangri-La, and Xishuangbanna, have won special favor among international tourists. Today countryside tourism has expanded to feature excursions such as terraced-field tours, jungle trekking, geological exploration, self-guided tours, self-drive tours and much more.
In 2005, the number of China’s inbound tourists exceeded 30 million. In addition to traditional travel destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an, countryside tours in the suburbs of Shanghai, as well as Yunnan and SichuanProvinces, and folk-custom tours in Tibet and other northwestern regions, have gained a new popularity.
Recently a caravan of travel vans set out from Europe, journeyed eastward along the ancient Silk Road, and finally entered the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. There the European tourists fully indulged in the natural landscapes of the vast desert and the ethnic flavors of Uygur villages. They experienced the cool bed unique to the Uygur households and selected carpets and other stuffs made by local farmers. Wherever they found anything interesting, they stopped for a closer look and perhaps a taste.
This leisurely form of countryside tourism has long been prevalent in developed Western nations. Now, in China, the trend is increasingly popular.
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A tourist spot conceived by farmers of Datong County, Qinghai Province. |
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students from Australia experience traditional Chinese farm work at the Nanjing-based Jiangxinzhou Farming Joys Museum. imaginechina |
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