Is China really so unwelcoming?
Ever thought of visiting China for fun? 😊
It is no secret that China is not high up on the places in the world to visit. Even the most cosmopolitan cities in China boasting the biggest choices of major retail flagship stores, swankiest hotels and stunning attractions, have not managed to crack the list of top 20 cities to splash your cash. Most people I know have never set foot in the country, and even if they did, it is usually because they are compelled to go to China for work, and then they leave on the next flight out.
Conversely though, Chinese tourists are seen everywhere today. Probably by virtue of population strength, the ‘less than 10% own passports’ statistic basically means that 120 million Chinese today are travelling, and the number is set to double in the coming years. In 2018, 84 million Chinese travelled out of China (excluding HK and Macau destinations, which are considered domestic travel, and made up an additional 48% more travellers — totalling 162 million).
With travel, comes the ka-ching, and no doubt the global tourism business is alive and well, thanks to China. The Chinese alone spent US$120 billion last year, which is probably the main reason why the city mayors of Paris and Tokyo are still tolerating the endless queues outside luxury brands along Champs Elysees and Ginza. Makes perfect cents (pun intended) to welcome them with open arms! In fact, China’s tourism trade deficit is such a serious issue today that economists are attributing this ‘problem’ as a major factor for wiping out the country’s entire current account surplus.
Economics and consumption aside, why is China unable to welcome the rest of the world to come to its shores? Because the truth is, China does have a lot to offer to tourists. Whether you like fashion or fauna, the country is so big and so rich in detail that you can afford to see a lot, with little money. I’ve been travelling in the country for over 15 years now — from the watertowns in Zhejiang to the highlands of Tibet, I am convinced this country is more instagrammable (and NatGeo-able) than most would ever imagine.
China’s tourism is also well established — its transport systems are phenomenal, tourist sites are well stocked with hotels and restaurants, and scenic routes well marked. However, this has largely been made for its domestic travellers, and so hosting foreigners is a concept many retailers haven’t gotten quite used to. Foreign credit card? English menus? You get the drift.
So here’s why I think China has some way to go in attracting the world to its shores:
Firstly, China’s reputation in the press. Admit it, the mention of China and we immediately think of over-crowded cities, smog, and filth. I don’t blame them — China may be finally winning the air pollution battle but this is world’s factory we’re talking about. Even my fellow countrymen with Chinese roots often raise an eyebrow whenever I mention my next China holiday plan. A commonly asked question is “Do they have Starbucks in China?” (For the record, a new Starbucks outlet opens every 15 hours in China. In fact, I am writing this post in one of its luxurious, socket-charged cafes.)
Secondly, finding travel information on China for free-and-easy travel is hard. This is a sore point for which even I as a Mandarin speaker, still wrestle with. Whilst many of the major travel platforms such as Tripadvisor and CTrip provide good access to unbiased reviews of places to visit, the information available compared to other destinations is still sparse and inadequate. The stuff today’s travellers want to know — ‘Where are the great nature spots for families?’, ‘Where are the good drinking joints?’, ‘ Which restaurants are the city’s best kept secrets?’ — in China, the secrets are as open as its toilet cubicles.
Which leads me to my third point, the lavatories. Yes, China may be the country with the most spectacular skyscrapers, but its toilets have a long way to go. I dedicated a whole post on China’s toilets which garnered laughs from fellow travellers, but here’s the shitty truth — if you are planning a trip out of the city centre, you will almost surely encounter a less-than-desirable toilet experience. That is not to say things have not improved; they have. China’s default sanitary standards are just different from the rest of the world, so changing its peculiar piping system and squatting habits is just going to take time.
Fourth, the Great Firewall. Imagine life without Google, Google Maps, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The list of blocked sites is long and painful to see, and the sad reality on the ground is that it renders any foreign traveller immobile (unless you can navigate Baidu). So the solution of course, is that once you’re in China, your lifeline is hooked onto one and only one thing — VPN. That is the only way you can access any of the above-mentioned sites. The good news is, VPN is affordable and uncomplicated to use.
But is the fate of China’s tourism destination doomed? I sure hope not. And here’s why I think China should open its tourism to the world:
Firstly, China has immensely beautiful places. If you talk about the highest mountains, the deepest canyons, the most stunning Avatar-esque landscapes, the craziest skyscrapers — they are all in China. I myself have always had a checklist of places to visit in the world, and China’s little nook and crannies keep popping up on this list. Back alley shopping and chichi restaurants aplenty in Shanghai; while Beijing is not just a big red block with Mao’s portrait on it — its labyrinth of stone old houses (hutong) is very much alive and thriving, the mountains in the distance laced with the 2,000 year old Great Wall, and the parks simply beautiful. The provinces of Yunnan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Guangxi (and more!) promise mind-blowing natural beauty in different climates, and even the Russian border in the north is a hotspot for ice-sculptures and the Northern Lights.
A sub-point that I should make to that is the kind of memories we often make during our travels aren’t actually the destinations, but the journey in itself. I have found that the best travel memories are usually the ones in which we took the slow noisy train, ordered the strange thing on the menu, or witnessed the a random scene on the road that makes you not know if you should laugh or cry. And somehow, China has an endless supply of such experiences every single day, that just brings out the magic in the place.
Of course, the magic of a place isn’t just physical. It is also the humans behind it. I can only say that the Chinese people are as kind as anyone else you meet in your off-the-beaten-track travel. The usual stereotypes — city people having no time to catch a breath; country folk genuinely welcoming applies in many places. But of course, simple respect is just basic courtesy. If you speak Mandarin, you will have a significantly easier time getting around just with ease of communication. If you don’t, you may get offended by a sense of hostility. This, I have to say, is quite cultural because many a time I have found that to be just their style of communication — brash and seemingly confrontational. (Most of the time I found them to be just bantering!) But from my experience, the Chinese people are genuinely so interested in the outside world that they are — more often than not — very obliging to at least talk to you. And if you have children, that is a real game changer. The older folk especially adore children, and just with the sparkle in their eyes you can tell how much they enjoy having children around.
Another reason why China should welcome the world to its shores, is simply because it badly needs some soft power. China’s growing influence in the world may have given more muscle to the country, but certainly less love from the outside. And that, can only be done when the foreigners come to get to know China’s culture, history and way of life. Unfortunately, much of these soft aspects are locked up in the country, which cuts off the opportunity for the rest of the world to finally get a chance to get an inkling of what really lies behind the firewall.
So perhaps, in time to come, China will learn to soften its tact and open itself to the world. But until then, I’d appeal to the adventurous, open-minded side of everyone to come and experience a very different universe that is China. And even if it the trip sucked, you would have lived to tell the tale. After all, isn’t that what life is about?
