In 2010 China became the third most popular tourist destination in the world, behind only France and the USA. Current predictions state it will become the most popular destination by 2020.
In 2010 nearly 56 million foreign visitors were welcomed to China, a rise of 10% on 2009, and more than in 2008, the year when China hosted the Olympics in Beijing. Tourism earned China over 45 billion US dollars in 2010.
History of Tourism in China
After the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1947 after the Chinese Civil war under the leadership of Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-tung), the country was closed to all foreign visitors, except for a selected few.
After a power struggle, Deng Xiaoping assumed power, and in the late 1970s he decided to exploit tourism as a means of earning much needed foreign exchange. A program of developments to support the tourist trade, such as the construction of hotels and guest houses, was begun, that continues to this day. Much of this development was in partnership with foreign investors, a common policy in China.
Tourist Attractions
China's 3 most popular tourist historical attractions are the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Terracotta Army in the Mausoleum the First Qin Emperor in Xi'an. The most popular modern attraction is the site of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Other attractions include the 41 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that exist in China, which include many of the popular historical, cultural, and natural sites that are popular with China's tourists and local visitors.
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen defensive fortifications in Northern China that stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west. It is over 8,800 km long, with over 6,200 km of wall, over 350 km of trenches, with the remainder being natural defenses such as rivers, hills, and mountains.
The earliest walls dates from the 5th Century BC, but most of the wall that still exists was built during the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368 to 1644 AD.
Contrary to popular myth, the Great Wall of China would not be visible from the moon, and is only visible from a low Earth orbit with the use of binoculars, and only if the viewer knows exactly where to look.
The Forbidden City in Beijing
The Forbidden City in the heart of China's capital city, Beijing, was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming Dynasty until the end of the Qing Dynasty, a period of almost 500 years. It was build in the period from 1406 to 1420 AD, and comprises 980 buildings on a site of 720,000 square meters.
The palace contains many religious sites, including a number of Buddhist sites from the Qing dynasty.
The Forbidden City has been run by the Palace Museum since 1925, and it houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts including the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by some local farmers near the Mausoleum the First Qin Emperor in Xi'an in the Shaanxi province.
It is estimated that the three pits that contain the Terracotta Army include over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses. Most of these figures are still buried in the pits. Other pits have been found containing non-military figures, also made from terracotta, that include officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.
Many weapons, including swords, spears, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and arrowheads have been found with the terracotta warriors.
2008 Olympic Site in Beijing
Beijing hosted 25 of the 31 venues for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The most famous venue was the Beijing National Stadium, which was used for the opening and closing ceremonies, and the athletics events. The stadium was nicknamed "The Bird's Nest" because of its nest-like skeletal structure.
Sources:
China Travel Guide, accessed September 6, 2011
UNESCO World Heritage Sites, accessed September 6, 2011
Mark Tibbits - A professional writer and educator who writes about Astrology, South Asia/China, the UK, the British Royal Family, and Religion.
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