Features

05.12.23

Investing in Tourism in Xinjiang, Beijing Seeks New Ways to Control the Region’s Culture

Eva Xiao
In a county where authorities ran multiple internment camps in China’s northwest Xinjiang region, the local government has commissioned a new set of buildings for a very different demographic: tourists. These sites and services, which were...

How China’s Rise Has Forced Hong Kong’s Decline

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
For nearly six months, people around the world have watched the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with one question in the back of their minds: When will Beijing lose patience and the repression begin? Journalists expecting to cover Tiananmen II...

Viewpoint

07.18.19

‘See, They Are So Happy with Our Generosity!’

Yaqiu Wang
On June 22, in Sihanoukville, a port city in southwest Cambodia, a Chinese-owned building under construction collapsed, killing at least 28 people, all Cambodians. The owner had undertaken the construction without the required permit, and defied...

Holiday Hush as Chinese Tourists Shun South Korean Resort Island amid THAAD Missile Shield Row

liu zhen
South China Morning Post
During the May Day holiday, the Jeju Cruise Terminal in South Korea used to be packed with thousands of passengers from the ports of Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao disembarking from large cruise liners and boarding their tourist buses.

China Is Crushing South Korea’s Tourism Industry

Alec Macfarlane
CNN
Pro tip for countries looking to keep their tourism numbers up: Don’t annoy China. That’s the lesson South Korea is learning the hard way. The country suffered a 40% plunge in Chinese visitors last month, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.

Chinese Tourism to Africa Is Up, but Travel Companies Are Wary

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
Africa is becoming an increasingly popular holiday destination among adventure-seeking Chinese tourists. The number of visitors who went to Africa in 2016 was up sharply due to looser visa restrictions and new direct flights between China and...

Full-Sized Replica of the Titanic Begins Taking Shape in Landlocked Southwest China

Nectar Gan
South China Morning Post
Tourist attraction aims to recreate the thrills and horror of doomed voyage

Tensions Rise Between South Korea and China After Chinese Tourists are Denied Entry to Jeju Island

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
Following a recent spate of violent crimes conducted by Chinese tourists, some Chinese tourists were barred from entering Jeju

589 Million Chinese Tourists Will Spend $72 Billion in Just 7 Days Celebrating “Golden Week”

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
Unexpectedly, the new hot destination is Morocco

Chinese Tourists Encouraged to Behave Ahead of Mass Vacation

Alyssa Abkowitz
WSJ: China Real Time Report
Public urination and defacing monuments are no-nos

Days After Disney Opened Its First theme Park, It Is Already Planning a Second

Zheping Huang
Quartz
Disney tries to keep China’s allurement to the Disney empire under control....

South Africa Tourism in Crisis as Chinese Reject New Visa Regulations

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
South Africa’s tourism sector is in crisis as a series of new visa regulations have prompted dramatic falls in arrivals, particularly from the world’s largest source of tourists: China. The number of Chinese visitors to South Africa has plunged a...

South Africa Tourism in Crisis as Chinese Reject New Visa Regulations

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden, David...
The number of Chinese visitors to South Africa has dropped 32 percent after new visa regulations make travel difficult.

Sinica Podcast

06.15.15

The People’s Republic of Cruiseland

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
We have enough favorite writers on China that we’ve had to develop a sophisticated classification system just to keep track of everyone. That said, one of our hardest to place within the long-form taxonomy is Chris Beam, who you may have heard on...

A Border City on the Edge of the Law

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
Mongla in Myanmar is best known among Chinese tourists for its casinos and large selection of rare and endangered animals.

Wooing, And Also Resenting, Chinese Tourists

Dan Levin
New York Times
They gawk, they shove, they eschew local cuisine, and last year, 83 million mainland Chinese spent $102 billion abroad making them the world’s biggest tourism spenders, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.