Tourists Soon Welcome to Try Family Hotels in ChinaChina has considered opening family hotels to foreign tourists after a trial operation period. An official source told Xinhua Friday that family-run hotels will be permitted to accommodate foreigners as long as they can guarantee qualified services and the security of guests"In principle, foreigners will be equal with Chinese in choosing their hotels," a Ministry of Public Security source said. A source with the National Tourism Administration showed the similar stand, "we will not put a say to any decisions by local authorities if they want to open family hotels to overseas guests." In fact, family-run hotels are still brand new for most Chinese. Earlier this month, under the encouragement of the State and promoted by the booming domestic tourism, China's tourism giants of Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hainan and other provinces started to look for China's first family-run hotel owners. In the famous tourist attraction of Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, the number of applicants soared to 300 in 15 days. In Xi'an, the ancient Chinese capital for some 1,100 years, the government had to close the bidding in advance because of the over-heated fervor of citizens. Family hotels must ensure food sanitation, security equipment and the capacity for more than four guests -- said a latest relevant interim rule in Xi'an. Wei Lixing, a Xi'an citizen living in the Minde Neighborhood Garden and one of the 190 applicants for opening family hotels in the city, said he wishes his family can receive foreign guests as soon as possible if he can get the business permit. "For me and my family," he said, "the money is one purpose, but more importantly, we can make friends with foreigners and learn more about their countries by receiving them at my own home." Though at present, China in general still advises foreigners to stay in designated hotels so as to guarantee their personal safety, foreigners are beginning to have more freedom to choose where to spend the night in China. Zhao Rong, a sociologist from the prestigious Northwestern University in Xi'an, views the consideration of opening family hotels to foreigners as epitomizing the deepening of China's opening-up policy in all aspects. "This represents the achievements made by the Chinese Government in the past some 20 years to encourage mutual friendly exchanges with foreign countries," he said. He noted that in the late 1970s, Chinese residents were forbidden to even watch foreigners in throngs," but now, people are strongly encouraged to contact friendly foreign people through all means." "To open family hotels will be another vital step for mutual understandings between foreigners and the common Chinese under different social systems and cultural backgrounds," he added. However, according to a public security source, because family hotels are new in China, and are still in a trial stage, they are not suitable to receive foreigners for the time being. "They still need to improve their services in not only language but also security measures," it said. According to an official figure, a total of 72.8 million overseas tourists entered China in 1999. It is predicted that the figure will increase to 137 million in the year 2020, ranking China the No.1 tourist destination in the world. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |