Between Beijing landing the 2008 Summer Olympics, Shanghai’s
emergence as a global trade center and all the press surrounding
the Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River, China is a
high-profile destination among U.S. travelers and wholesalers. In a
recent U.S. Tour Operators Association survey of its members, China
ranked sixth among all international destinations, rubbing elbows
with such ever-popular destinations as Australia, Mexico and
up-and-comer Thailand.
Numbers from the China National Tourism Office bear out the
country’s popularity among Americans. In 2001 a year in which
overseas travel from the United States almost stopped in the last
four months nearly 950,000 American travelers visited China, an
increase of almost 6% over the total in 2000. This year, the United
States is on pace to send more than 1 million visitors to China for
the first time.
“China in the past couple of years has been a super-hot
destination of choice for travelers,” said Evan Chan, director of
Ritz Tours’ China division. The events of last Sept. 11 and the
looming specter of war with Iraq have both dampened Americans’
enthusiasm for travel across the Atlantic and benefited China, he
added.
So with all those Americans heading to China, what popular
attractions and activities should agents suggest to their clients?
TravelAge West posed that question to four wholesalers that
specialize in China, and their wide-ranging responses varied from
the obvious ones to those off the beaten path.
The River and the Dam
Tour operators also appear in agreement about the popularity of
itineraries with sailings on the changing Yangtze River.
Word has spread among travelers about the imminent changes along
China’s fabled waterway next month, ships traveling on the Yangtze
will sail through temporary locks. The third phase of construction
will begin next summer, at which point water will rise
approximately 15 feet a day, flooding the low-lying areas along the
river. Eventually, a permanent lock will be in operation. The
entire project will be completed in 2009.
“We have found the hottest destination of choice to be the
Yangtze,” said Ritz Tours’ Chan. “With stage three of the Three
Gorges Dam project beginning in November, Americans have been
flocking to China to see the Three Gorges before it becomes
submerged.”
But Chan, like other operators who offer Yangtze trips,
emphasized that just because work on the river will soon include
the flooding of some areas along the river, changing it forever,
that process won’t happen overnight.
“Stage three of the dam project will take six years to
complete,” he said. “In each of those years the water level shall
be slowly raised. Therefore, prospective travelers who wish to
visit the Three Gorges can still do so within the next couple of
years.”
Ritz uses Victoria Cruises for the Yangtze portion of its China
itineraries, and trips range from the three- or four-day sailings
between Chongqing and Wuhan (between which lie the Three Gorges) to
longer cruises between Nanjing and Chongqing. Each itinerary
features a stopover at the site of the Three Gorges Dam, and
popular shore excursions go to the cities of Fengdu (the “city of
ghosts,” known in the ancient Han dynasty as the gateway to the
underworld) and Wanxian (known for its many markets and artisans),
as well as Mount Jiuhuashan, with its Buddhist temples.
The ‘Big Three’ Cities
Comprising one-third of what Ritz Tours’ Chan calls “the big
three,” Shanghai along with Beijing and Xian is featured in all 16
of Ritz’s China and Asia itineraries for 2003 and 2004.
Valerie Wade, sales executive with San Francisco-based Euroasia
Travel, said Shanghai has always been a very popular destination,
but the ongoing growth of this city of 13 million appears to have
sparked an increase in its popularity among U.S. visitors.
Wade singled out two hotels that are big hits with Euroasia
clients. One is the Grand Hyatt Hotel, on the rapidly developing
Pudong side of the city and occupying the upper floors of China’s
tallest skyscraper.
“Even if guests can’t afford to stay the night, the Cloud 9 bar
on the 87th floor is a must visit,” Wade said.
On the other end of the age spectrum, but equally popular, is
the waterfront Peace Hotel, located on the Bund at the entrance to
Shanghai’s ever-popular Nanjing Road shopping district. It’s one of
the oldest properties in the city, and its jazz concerts in the
hotel bar are legendary.
But just touring the Great Wall or shopping on Nanjing Road
isn’t always enough these days for travelers to the “big three,”
according to Christina Liadis, tour operations manager at China
Travel Service.
“There is a definite shift toward more in-depth cultural
experiences and people-to-people interaction,” Liadis said. “One of
our most popular tours,” Liadis said, “is our Local Flavors tour in
which the traveler has the opportunity to visit well-known
historical attractions as well as explore ancient lanes in the old
part of Beijing, meet the locals as they practice Tai Chi in the
park, visit gardens and ancient water towns in the Grand Canal area
and taste many different regional cuisines.”
The Real Shangri-La
At New York-based Pacific Holidays, interest has been strong in
Rediscovering Shangri-La, an itinerary launched in 2000 that takes
travelers to Yunnan Province, near Tibet in the southwest corner of
China.
“A couple of other tour operators have basically copied our
itinerary and put it in their brochure,” said Jerry Chang,
president of Pacific Holidays. “But that means something is
interesting and people want to do it.” Chang was inspired to add
the itinerary, priced from $2,295 per person, double, land only,
after reading James Hilton’s classic novel “Lost Horizon.” He’s
clearly not the only one with great interest in the region. So many
visitors have come to Zhongdian, the town that’s home to the
legendary monastery, that the town is often referred to as
“Shangri-La.”
Other regional highlights of the Rediscovering Shangri-La
itinerary include the unique geological formations of the Stone
Forest, a visit to a Tibetan home in a mountain village and a tour
of the ancient city of Lijiang, with its cobbled streets, canals
and Jade Peak monastery. China Travel Service also features many of
these attractions in its 10-day In Search of Shangri-La tour.
Martial Arts and Ale
Wade of Euroasia Travel singled out two sites within China that
frequently find their way onto the itineraries her company
assembles for affinity groups and for FIT clients. One is Shaolin
Si, a monastery near Zhengzhou in Henan Province that’s considered
to be the birthplace of the martial arts.
“Shaolin Si is the place where martial arts began in China, as a
form of distraction for Buddhist monks from their long hours of
meditation,” Wade said. The monastery today operates as a martial
arts school and is frequently used for performances and
competitions.
Wade suggested that agents point their beer-aficionado clients
in the direction of seaside Qingdao, on the Jiaodong Peninsula by
the Yellow Sea. Qingdao’s main attraction is Shilaoren National
Holiday Resort, designated as a state resort by the Chinese
government a decade ago. One of the most popular sites within the
resort area is the International Beer City, where the largest beer
festival in Asia takes place every August.
For More Information
Ritz Tours: 800-900-2446; www.ritztours.com
Pacific Holidays: 800-355-8025;
www.pacificholidaysinc.com
China Travel Service: 800-899-8618;
www.chinatravelservice.com
Euroasia Travel: 800-883-6657;
www.euroasiatravel.com.
