| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 14, 2001 |
U.S. Tourist Enjoys Herself in China |
 Svana Agustsson, a 50-year-old jeweler from the United States who is always lagging behind her companions during her visit to the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, temporarily lost contact with her friends while visiting Shaanxi Museum of History. When she finally found her touring team, she said, "The biggest problem that I have encountered in China is that I often fall behind the touring team, for I have too much to enjoy."
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It is the first time for Svana Agustsson toured China. The 50-year-old jeweler lost contact with her touring team while visiting Shaanxi Museum of History. Svana complained about the carelessness of her companions, "I couldn't find a trace of them after I left the exhibition hall. However, there have been several young people offering in English to help me. Their warmhearted and friendly attitude touched me a lot".
"There was so much to see!"
"I couldn't find a trace of them after I left the exhibition hall", Svana said, "There was so much to see in the museum that the time was too short. Sometimes, one or two looks was not enough and I was reluctant to leave the displays, forgetting altogether to keep up with the tour team."
Tour in China so amazing
Actually, it is not Svana's first time to make such mistake. "I have made similar mistakes several times during my travels here," she said.
According to her schedule, the first-leg of her trip was Shanghai. The city has become very popular since the recent APEC summit. Svana stayed in Shanghai for two days, marveling at its Pudong New District and Nanjing Road, the city's most prosperous thoroughfare.
Ancient city admirable
Her second stop Xi'an, an ancient city with an entirely different style from modern Shanghai, also aroused Svana's heartfelt admiration.
Svana and her companions firstly visited was the Shaanxi Provincial Museum of the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors.
Qin Shihuang Tomb, "the eighth wonder of the world", was accidentally discovered in 1974 by a local farmer while digging a well. Since then, nearly 8,000 life-sized terracotta warriors and horses along with tens of thousands of pieces of weaponry have been uncovered from three huge pits, located less than a mile from the emperor's tomb. The purpose of the warriors and horses was to maintain and protect the spirit of their ruler throughout eternity.
Shaanxi Museum of History is also a highlight bringing an increasing number of tourists to this thousand-year-old ancient city. In this year's busy season from September and October, the museum has attracted about 44,000 foreign tourists.
Svana watched the people going past the ticket collectors, hoping to find some familiar faces among the crowds of tourists. At the eastern exit, a team of foreign visitors was waiting in front of the ticket collector, laughing and talking. While several parties of foreign tourists speaking various languages were walking in an out of the western exit in an orderly manner.
According to statistics provided by the museum administration department, nearly 400 foreign tourists had visited the museum up until 11:00 that morning.
Happy bird returns to the touring team, Beijing ahead
When one of Svana's companions, an older man about the same age as she was, finally appeared at the exit, she felt very relieved.
"The biggest problem that I have encountered in China is that I often fall behind the touring team, for I have too much to enjoy." Svana said. "My next destination is Beijing and I expect to have an even more wonderful time there".
By the end of June, the number of tourists entering China's mainland totaled some 18.09 million, an increase of 11.9 percent compared with the same period last year. The number of tourists from foreign countries amounted to 8.42 million, up 14.8 percent.
The number of tourists from the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan reached 5.86 million, 604,400 and 1.2 million, respectively, increases of 4.9, 10.4 and 19.0 percent compared to the same period of last year.
Statistics show that the ten provinces and municipalities hosting the most tourists in the first seven months of the year were Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Shandong and Shaanxi. |
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