When a Thailan star complains about Chinese tourists , so uggly

Parks of China

For people interested in nature and parks there are many throughout China each with their own attraction.   Juizhaigou  National Park in Sichuan province remains my favorite as it has been kept very pristine and only allows 5,000 people per day into the park.  The park nestled into the remote mountains is shaped like a wishbone so that you go up one side in the mourning and the other side in the afternoon.  What I especially like about it is that it gives you so many options.  Throughout the park are wooden walkways in order to keep the park pristine and natural.  There are many stations in the park short distances apart with natural gas green buses running very often that leave no exhaust.  You may get on and off as you please or can walk or hike as far as you want between stations. Very clean toilets that are self cleaning are also available everywhere.  The park was started back in the 1970's and was started with keeping it pristine and natural from the start.  The pools of water are natural with their color from minerals in the ground.   There are many flights from Chengdu to Juizhaigou and several good hotels to choose from.  However you should contact a tour operator in advance to make sure you have tickets to get into the park.  The Park is extremely busy during the fall  months of September and October when the leaves are turning.  Oct. 1st is a National Holiday and Chinese have one week off so the park is booked full much in advance.  Prices are the highest at that time also.  For more information on Juizhaigou check the internet or also contact me for more specific information.  My name is Dave and you can contact me at  interlak@eskimo.com

              Click on the Photo for a Full Screen View

Digital China TV news

After frequent "air strikes" emerging Internet companies, traditional television giants have gradually gained their soil and divide the online and offline brands in an attempt to open the second battle and regain the initiative in the market smart online TV.

TV giants in China separate online and offline brands

On April 1, the online brand aistrike the TV manufacturer Skyworth announced independent operation, assuming that "pioneer" in the operating Skyworth Internet TV. The smart TV product in its early stages after independence of "Coocaa" exclusive offer from the interface of the experience for the three types of people, including children, seniors and youth by an intelligent display, meet content requirements and habits in the use of different groups. It breaks oriented young mentality Internet TVs on the market and incorporates the requirements of the two groups of children and seniors. According to the president of Wang Zhiguo , the essence of the competition is still product innovation. TV Internet requires not only breakthrough, but also recognition of the experience of the user. Lately, "KKTV" online brand Konka established independent functioning well, the aim was to create another Konka. The strategy of "KKTV" is to promote earlier "sale on television" in cooperation with Internet companies to "make television" cooperation. According to the concerned officer of the Company, the brand will collect data from the user demand, in reverse customize configurations, functions, modules and combination of applications, integrate services applications for film and television, games, music, shopping, education and life on Ali platform via Taobao, a platform to meet major users individualized applications for younger users.

Dismantling online brands the above companies indicates that the television industry has given preliminary achievements in the "water test" the market smart.

Faced test online competition

In 2013, LeTV, mi.com and other Internet companies marched in the market of smart TV in succession. In 2014, the super TVs LeTV sales volume has reached 1.5 million, the fulfillment of its annual sales target one month in advance. In order to capture the big screen in the living room, Internet companies frequently broke the back of the smart TV market price and won the support of the many fans of the cost of expensive equipment, method-pipe, charged content, etc.

"Meet impact, Konka, Skyworth, Changhong, TCL and other TV magnates began to create different online internet TV brands traditional masters brands targeting new application and purpose profile Internet consumer group to face competition." say this Agency in Shanghai

Currently, online trademark solo in the television industry have been empowered staff, business and finance and competition face test online more directly, starting to "fight against" LeTV, mi .com, etc. Given the changing costs of most concern to market online, just after mi.com released a 40-inch television in the price of RMB1,999, "Coocaa" price of its new 43-inch TV product is RMB 1999, making her popular strategy the high cost of more aggressive performance. In terms of marketing, "KKTV", "Coocaa" and so on have adopted online sales resources on Tmall.com, JD.COM etc., subscription sales, limited sale, etc., which greatly reduces cost channels and standing in the same starting line with Internet television businesses. Regarding production, and  KKTV were relying on the superiority of the television production of the parent company over to LeTV and mi.com adopting OEM production mode.

Robust processing and disposal of the market

According to the analysis of the expert, fierce online battle of sub-brands in the television industry is following the consideration of multiple factors such as short-term, long-term scale and benefit, reflecting the ideology Strategic television giants in the search for stability improvement.

Digital plan 

On the one hand, it aims to rapidly increase the quantity and expand the scale. Last year, the global television market in China has experienced negative growth. A total of 44.61 million televisions were sold, down 6.6 percent on a year to year basis. This year, global sales of television should be pessimistic. Compared to a slowdown in the offline market, sales of televisions on the market were in line rise.

550,000 TV sold

In 2014, the volume of online sales reached 7.87 million, representing 18 percent of all channels. Therefore, if the intention of strengthening market share and even transform the market model, national television undertakings excessive competition are required to power the online sales, which is considered the key tactics. For example, "this Brand" sold 550,000 TVs last year while its volume of online sales in the first two months of this year has reached 200,000 sets with its annual sales target set at 1.5 million euros for this year.

Chinese Greatest Business opportunities

On the other hand, it aims to advance the transformation and the struggle for greater business opportunity. According stroke estimate, the annual value of Smart TV equipment sales is approximately RMB150 billion yuan and the annual value of content and application of smart TV is about RMB 300 billion yuan. Under Internet economy, the pace of the television industry wins by hardware gradually not work and some new incomers make great efforts to sell the television equipment regardless of the cost to establish public praise and occupy the users. Possessing operational users, it is in possession of strategic assets. For example, great TV LeTV generated a strong correlation with users in a sustained manner by offering value-added services for users worthy instead of winning by the hardware, which is in possession of several cost-effective models of content, service, advertising and application. However, the transition from a television company at the new business model tradition is unable to perform an action. This is a positive and reliable choice for driving it from a sub-brand and create a repeatable experience.

Digital Agency in China Shanghai
Toute l'équipe de Gentlemen vous souhaite une bonne année 2015 ! Si vous souhaitez une belle petite vidéo , n'hésitez pas à nous droper un petit mail. ;-) ou la partager .
Posted by Marketing Chine on dimanche 4 janvier 2015

Hotels in China

When it comes to booking hotels in China I highly recommend that  you choose an agency or tour operator that KNOWS China well.  Actually the best is to have a Tour Operator like myself  :-)  who knows China very well and inspects hotels on a regular basis for the past 26 years.  Nothing worse than trying to plan your own tour and booking hotels and then being greatly disappointed in your hotel.  Fake reviews and claims are common on the internet.  Location is one of the things you  should consider most.  Being located out in the suburbs or poor locations to save a few $$ is not wise.  You will spend much of your time and money (taxis) going to the sights.  Your tour operator who knows China well, knows these areas and best value hotels.  For instance:  Wangfujing area in Beijing is the best.  Good hotels there but some to avoid too.  In Shanghai you need to be close to the Nanjing Road Mall.  Some well known hotels are across the river in Pudong and you will be taking a taxi every time you want to go some place and back.  Boutique hotels are becoming more common but also high prices especially for best locations.  Traditional style hotels are in demand and many are available with modern conveniences however prices are usually a bit higher also.  Hotels in China usually come with a large buffet breakfast included in the hotel cost.  If not listed as "included" the cost can often be $15 to $25 per person extra.  There is also a service charge of normally 15% added or included too as there are no tips in the hotels other than perhaps a bell boy.  The city tax is also included.  If none of these costs are listed as included, the quoted low cost on the internet can often be a surprise when you check out.  One former client wanted a hotel in Xian and he said it could be booked for $85 a night.  I knew the hotel well and had consulted with them.  That $85 room located in an older building on the first floor facing the inside is indeed $85 for a single.  No breakfast, service charge, tax etc. was quoted.  The room on check out then is $137. per night.  One should know there is usually 5 level of prices in each hotel depending on the room size and amendments.
For more information on hotels, please feel free to email me at   interlak@eskimo.com   My name is Dave and I will not try to sell you a tour if you are only interested on more hotel information.

How Chinese tourists Engage Online

Chinese vs. Western tourists

Despite the whopping 100 million per year, Chinese tourists are still a minority compared to the whole Chinese population, barely 10% in fact. Even though it is on the rise, those who can actually afford holidays overseas are few in numbers mostly because of cost. As a consequence there are mainly above average earners or middle class like white collar escaping the overcrowded and polluted China for a relaxing time abroad.

Different online booking behaviors

According to IresearchChina, 57% of Chinese book their holidays online. Of those 57%, 70% are flight bookings. How does this compare with online travel behaviors in key Western markets?

49% of French netizens and 58% of Canadian netizens book their holidays online, according to Statista. Bear in mind that public access to the internet in China is very recent : first e-commerce groups like Alibaba started to truly gain momentum when the American giants seemed to have taken over everything related to IT and networks. China is thus “quite new” to all of this. Still, it is now amongst the countries whose netizens are at 57% most likely to book their holidays online, and it keeps increasing at a double-digit pace, with a 25% increase year-over-year in 2014! Comparatively speaking France online holiday booking has increased by only 2.2% in 2014 and by 7% in the US. Bottom line : Western markets seem to have already reached maturity while China is just getting started – so to speak.

Different reasons to travel

The reasons of their travels can be different depending on the destination: developed countries will attract travelers because of luxury goods, especially Western European countries, but also Japan and Hong Kong. Other countries like the Maldives are sought for their beaches and for romantic stays. Hong Kong and Macau are preferred destinations due to their proximity and the fact that Chinese is spoken there.
The main reason of their travel is definitely shopping. They are fond of luxury brands made by Western European countries. Sure, they have these brands in China but they are much more expensive, usually a 30% to 50% price difference. This explains why Chinese were among the biggest spenders in 2014 even though their holidays were much shorter than their western counterparts.

source http://fredericgonzalo.com/en/2015/04/08/how-chinese-travelers-engage-online/ 

5 Top Social Media Sites Used by Chinese

China has undergone drastic changes in its spending habits these past 10 years. The main factors contributing to the change in Chinese consumerism is the rise of disposable income, social pressure and everything going digital. It used to be that men held the wallets and gave their credit card to their wife/girlfriend/mistress(es).

Now, things have changed, girls and young women do it themselves, and they already have deep-rooted habits.

Girls go online, and they hold the wallet now!

As a Fashion or a cosmetic brand, you need to be aware of the young ladies behavior to use the right place to send the right message. Two words here: social networks. This is especially true for the 18 to 30-year-olds that truly love shopping online. Wide offers, lower prices, tons and tons of advice on how to best use the products they use and wear. The Internet is THE way for them. It has been shown that they have become the biggest spenders in relationship to their wages . Lastly, Chinese women see e-commerce as a fun part of their lifestyle. Now, where do they go to get information before actually buying fashion or cosmetics?

Read more at http://maximizesocialbusiness.com/top-5-social-media-sites-used-chinese-girls-18455/

Digital Agency in China Shanghai
Toute l'équipe de Gentlemen vous souhaite une bonne année 2015 ! Si vous souhaitez une belle petite vidéo , n'hésitez pas à nous droper un petit mail. ;-) ou la partager .
Posted by Marketing Chine on dimanche 4 janvier 2015

Tips for doing SEO in China

Tips for SEO in China... 

You want to attract CHinese tourists ? You must appear on Baidu ... that the rules , and where is the big fight ...

see thie article 

Be carefull to your Website

For political reasons, the Chinese websites should definitely use a ccTLD. It will also be useful for local hosting and get PCI. Regarding the domain, Baidu is impartial to .com, .cn, .com.cn and others, but it is interesting to note that Chinese users generally prefer .com.cn, .cn and .com domains.

Hosting is matter

The "Accommodation" of your website matter to Baidu , but not absolutely necessary, but should be seriously considered if you want your website to perform well in Baidu. This is not only useful to China loading speed, but is also a prerequisite for PCI.

ICP Record (license)

It is required by the Chinese government that all sites operating in China need to get a record of ICP. Although some websites using foreign guests without PCI are still able to be visited by Chinese users, there is no doubt that the web sites that have a PKI are more favorable to search engines in China. For example, you must obtain a PKI before submitting your site Qihoo (360), and some paid ads Baidu also need a PKI
Guest blog post ,link building & SEO services to improve the website traffic and keywords ranking on all major search engines mainly on Chinese search Engine like Baidu.

Baidu 360search, Sogou ,also gives you content writing Services..

Area For political reasons, the Chinese websites should definitely use a ccTLD. It will also be useful for local hosting and get PCI. Regarding the domain, Baidu is impartial to .com, .cn, .com.cn and others, but it is interesting to note that Chinese users generally prefer .com.cn, .cn and .com domains. Host Accommodation in China is not absolutely necessary, but should be seriously considered if you want your website to perform well in Baidu. This is not only useful to China loading speed, but is also a prerequisite for PCI. ICP Record (license) It is required by the Chinese government that all sites operating in China need to get a record of ICP. Although some websites using foreign guests without PCI are still able to be visited by Chinese users, there is no doubt that the web sites that have a PKI are more favorable to search engines in China. For example, you must obtain a PKI before submitting your site Qihoo (360), and some paid ads Baidu also need a PKI Solutions
I have the list of High Authority Domains with Access - All Domains are pr 4 plus also 50+ DA &

News and blog Websites are higher ranked... than company websites

Permanent Link on the sites - Do-Follow Links Prices Depends on the Quality of Domain & DA
Content in Chinese of 600-700 words will be from My End - I assure for the Premium Quality Contents
Links should be provided
Samples from all ranges of DA - Will be sent to you If Required
Chinese Contents will be published with your links in 7-15 Days - If it crossed, Full REFUND to you!

Want to test usefull service? Make a Trail order

On-Page work activities "Monthly Task and responsibilities"
1.Website Analysis
2.Keyword research in Chinese
3.Meta tags changes ; Website Promotion
4.Alt tag changes
5.Keyword density in site content.
6.HTML,XML site map and Submission in webmaster tool
7.Robots.Txt File creation Extra work activities
8.Google Webmaster tool
Off-Page work activities "Monthly Task and responsibilities"
1. Chinese Directory submissions
2. Social Bookmarking Submissions
3. Article Submissions
4. Press Release Submissions Chinese
5. Chinese Blog Comments
6. unique, 400 word article written in Chinese
7. unique, 400 word press releases
8. Search Engine Submission
9. One Way theme related Links
10. Chinese Guest Blog posting
11 weibo like
12 Youku like
13 Baidu local business
14 Baidu place reviews

The greatest attention to home

The homepage should include all important information. This is because, unlike Google, Baidu attaches more importance to the home page. In the opinion of Google, detailed deep pages may be more relevant to the keyword, and it is very difficult for the detail page to be ranked. But Baidu, the home page should get more priority. Sometimes when searching for the same keyword, your home page might rank higher than the detailed page on Baidu. Therefore, optimization of your home page is very important. Chinese users prefer home pages with rich content. Please do you add all your important information to your home page and avoid using only a few pictures or flash on the home page. If this increases the size of the home page too, then turn on gzip, it will not affect performance on Baidu.

Use Suitable Simplified Chinese

The content is very important for a website. But some international companies do not pay attention to this. Some companies like to copy the content of their sites in Hong Kong or Taiwan, and some even just use the translation of their website in English. Because of the difference in the ways of expressing ideas and thinking, it is almost impossible for such sites to get good rankings on Baidu. So, as an international company, you should give more power to your Chinese team should select and create content for your site in China, not just copy your other sites.
Title is important
Compared to Google, Baidu uses the title tag more to judge the about page. Your Chinese title should be in 30 Chinese characters (60 Latin characters). And place important keywords at the front of the title. For famous brands, adding the company name in the title tag will make the page more worthy of confidence in the SERPs.

Images Need chinese Tags

Make sure you use a Chinese name and alt tags on your images. That will make your page more relevant for the target keyword and this is something that many international companies neglect. Some simply copy the image of their other local sites, which is useless to the ranking of their Chinese site and in the worst case, the alt tag can be messy.

Be Fresh, all the time 

Baidu promotes fresh and original content. Websites with fresh content will get more attention and be indexed faster. So if possible, constantly adding new content. Adding a new page or a blog official page on your website could be a useful way to do it. If you have nothing new to add, it is also good to rewrite content page is based on the same keywords regularly.

Categories are super important 

Baidu already supports canonical tags. So make sure you use it when you have duplicate content.
Avoid Pop Ups
Sites with pop up ads will not be a good ranking in Baidu, because it harms the user experience. In addition, Chinese users do not like pop ups, even they are not in the ads. So avoid using pop-ups on your site.

see also :
http://chinese-tourist.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-seo-is-usefull-to-attract-chinese.html
https://plus.google.com/+Chinesetouristagency/posts/LMQWhcpbvJj

A Bit More Humor!

People who read my blog seemed to like my last story on Humor in China so here is a bit more.  I was in the back country of rural China with my guide and driver.  We stopped at an outside café for lunch.  No western dishes but had a Chicken Soup that sounded good.  We ordered it and when it came the driver spooned through it and then got up and was yelling at the cook.  I asked my guide what the problem was and he shyly said, "The Driver said the cook left the best parts out and was cheating us".  Knowing China well, I asked what the best parts were that they left out..  He said,
"the feet, head and guts".  The cook left those out because he knew I was a foreigner and would not like those parts in the soup.  You will never get such food on any tour so do not worry about that.  Chinese food in China is the best.  Another time in Western China in a  remote small town there was only one restaurant for foreigners.  I asked to go to a local restaurant just to see what one was like and what they served.  Again with a guide and driver they had one menu in English.  Camel's Paw was the first item on the menu and I knew I was in trouble.  I ordered egg soup which I like and told the guide to ask the driver what he would like not wanting to leave him out.  He wanted Donkey and Noodles!  One taste and I learned quickly that I didn't like Donkey!  :-)   I have a thousand stories that I could tell but thought readers would enjoy these two on food.  You will never get these things on a tour unless of course you ask for them! Below you see a normal lunch.  Second one is a photo of me who likes to eat well with two waitresses in the countryside.  Third is a photo of my wife and I having a deluxe dinner in Chongqing.  Last photo is of friends who are celebrating their birthdays just like us with a birthday cake.  The assortment of food in China is unlimited and extremely good.

A Bit of Humor for You.

I have travelled all over China for the past 26 years.  There is always something to discover in China no matter where you go.  I have many friends in China and one day my friends wanted to take me to a new Temple that had just been built.  It was a large round building with 4 entrances.  Inside as you can see are many Buddhas below.

.  The object is to walk into any door you please and either turn left or right.  You then start counting Buddhas until you come to the one that matches your AGE.  We all had to laugh a bit since the photo above with the chubby Buddha resembles my build very closely.   I love to eat good food.  I have always said that China is not only extremely interesting, it is also very fun as you never know what you will find next.   Another time we were in the mountains and came upon men working and tearing down a 700 year old temple to make room for some construction.  They had a small fire going and had been taking down some of the wooden parts and burning them.  I rescued a wooden carved Monk about 12 inches high that had come from the temple and now have it home in a glass case with a small glass of water to keep it from deteriorating further.  As I said, you never know what you will find in China and I have many stories to tell of my travels too many to ever write them all down.   I hope I will be able to plan a special tour to your specific interests too.  Check out my web site at www.interlakechinatours.com

Made in China is out of trend

Made in China is out of trend

In recent years, people have often speak foreign cosmetics that have completely taken over the market. Now this is no longer true. Chinese beauty brands are on the rise and they certainly have their say on the future of the Chinese market for beauty products.

Made in China is out of trend, Made in China soon in China

For Chinese brands to really take over the market, they would need to change the made in China cliché actually for China, as Chinese fashion brands would like to achieve. At a time when the quality is better than quantity, where wages in China are rising, from qualitative to local Chinese beauty brands is definitely the way here. source : http://blog.chinadaily.com.cn/blog-1882116-26280.html

Herborist The brand is positioned as having a strong relationship with traditional Chinese medicine and nature.

Herborist is a Chinese cosmetics brand whose message is all about mixing Chinese product of traditional medicine and beauty. It is a small market that has many potential these days. Why is that? This is simply because many Chinese prefer everything related to nature to satisfy their desire for nature and healthy.

Beauty market in China

With 40 years of experience in the market, the brand can boast significant experience in the beauty market. Moreover, they do not stop there, opening SPA complete the range of services they wish to offer to their customers in China After these, we will move to a genus hottest beauty products: Grids.
The past two years, the mask of the market has increased steadily from 30% showing how Chinese users like them. Yes, I am not writing a Chinese female customers because men can also be used. I was doing. The masks are very relaxing effect and, once past the strangeness of the concept for a man, it becomes a very pleasant experience. Facemasks only that you think for men? The biggest celebrities use them, some as often Fan Bing Bing who said use twice a day to keep her white skin. Examples of skin masks

Facemasks sold by a cosmetics brand in Guangzhou !

Mask sold in China, another Chinese brand. Bleaching effects perfectly match the desires of Chinese women: keep their pale skin to fit the model of the white, large Chinese woman eyes. Furthermore these masks help women who operate in a highly pressurized environment to relax after work. The mask market is one of beauty products with the greatest potential in terms of market developments. Indeed, there is another factor that contributes to the smog present in China, very bad for the skin, masks allow users to clean their skin before going to bed source

The material safety responsibility pour Cosmetic Products imported is specified FIRST, and the local agent Must Take Responsibility, which is similar to the concept of "responsible person", "Kong said. "The Security Assessor is specified in Article 20 and Can Be Either house of the Personnel D'Or levels of the UN.
Charges Pre-Market Will Be replaced by aftermarket Compliance, Such As monitoring the adverse effect, traceability of products, Labeling and redesign pour the Chinese market. " The current pre-pay market in application of cosmetic serums ordinary deleted rise to notification of the typical éffectuée responsible officer in the interim level, this meant Who Let serums Treaty as made-in- ordinary China cosmetics A particular area of note to brands outside of China is the added regulatory requirements on imported cosmetics.

Chinese tourism in USA, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia

For years, China has been regarded as the factory for the world, a role that saw supply most shoes, toys and clothing for American consumers. However, these roles are changing. US exports of services to China, particularly travel, are growing rapidly while US imports of goods from China have declined in recent months.

Chinese tourists in USA

US exports of services to China increased 10 percent to about $ 41 billion in 2014, faster than the 2.6 percent of China's exports to the United States service, according to US official data. The US trade surplus in services with China increased 14.5 percent to 26.8 billion last year.
In contrast, the US trade deficit in goods with China increased 7.5 percent to US $ 342.6 billion in 2014, a new record, the data showed. US imports of goods from China fell by $ 45 billion in October last year to $ 31.2 billion in February, while US goods exports to China fell from about $ 13.2 billion in October last year to $ 8.7 billion in February.

Chinese tourists are really rich 

source Chinadaily

"The total merchandise trade with China has provided a rapid decline that started around November 2014. In large measure, the export of high US service and greatest surplus service to China in 2014 was travel, which accounted for 51 percent of US services exports to China in 2014, "said a report by the Review Board of Economic Security and US-China (USCC).

China to travel the US services exports have more than doubled, from about $ 9 billion in 2010 to $ 21 billion in 2014, a much faster growth rate than other services, said USCC, a US government body that advises Congress on China-US relations.
"This reflects the increase in tourism by the Chinese in the United States," said Edmund Sim, a partner in Appleton Luff, an international law firm. Export dollars of US services are amplified by Chinese tourists who buy goods in the US, said Sim. "The US housing market has been a good investment for them." The number of Chinese tourists visiting the US jumped 21 percent to 2.19 million in 2014, faster than the growth of 7 percent of all tourists in the United States is 75 million data American said.

In thailand

Public outrage forced the Thai government to issue thousands of Chinese-language etiquette manuals last month in an effort to ensure sightseers behave themselves. Feathers were ruffled anew in March when a Thai model posted a video on Facebook accusing Chinese tourists of jumping the line at an airport, prompting heated debate from Thai and Chinese bloggers.source

Chinese tourists in Bali

For the first time, Chinese tourists in Bali has exceeded the number of Australian visited the island. Based on data from BPS (Bureu statistics) in Bali, it was held in February 2015.
According to the head of the BPS Bali, it is quite interesting to note that this is the first visit of the Chinese time dominated tourism in Bali.
In February 2015, the total tourists visited the island amounting 333.072 people. The number, Chinese tourists is highes with 27.71 percent percent, followed by Australian (21.04 per cent), Japan (6.69 percent), Malaysia (4.26 percent) and South Korea (3.95 percent).
Pasununan Siregar said that this trend was because many Chinese tourists celebrated the Chinese New Year in Bali. Also in Bali, Chinese tourists also dominated the tour nationally in Indonesia in February 2015.

Australia and Japan

BPS Suryaman National Chief said that China accounted for 18.2 percent or 144,000 of the total 786,700 arrivals of foreign visitors to the country in February.
After China was Malaysia accounts for 12.43 percent or 97,800 arrivals, followed by Singapore 12.39 percent, Australia and Japan 10.43 percent 5.89 percent. "Most Chinese visitors might want to expand its business in Indonesia," said Suryamin Wednesday. The number went before the government announced visa-free installation for 30 other countries, including China to be effective in April, he said. It is expected that the number of tourists from China to increase with visa waiver facility for tourists from 30 countries, he said. The 30 countries included 15 countries from which tourists have already given visa-free installation by the government. The policy should double the number of foreign tourist arrivals to 20 million in 2019 at the end of the term of the current government.

Ciqikou Old Town Near Chongqing

Many people take the Yangtze River Cruise which starts up stream at Chongqing and cruises down to YiChang.  Most Group Tours arrive in Chongqing in the late afternoon in time for dinner and boarding of the boats.  Chongqing although a very large city has it's special places to visit if you arrive the night before the next day evening sailings or are just passing through Chongqing.  One of the special places I like my clients to visit is Ciqikou Ancient Town which was first built between the years 960 and 1279 only 17 kms. from central Chongqing.  The narrow walking alleys have no cars and you will find so many interesting sights of everyday Chinese living besides older homes such as the Zhong Family Courtyard home. Its owner Zhong Yanting worked for Empress Dowager Cixi who lived between 1835 and 1908.  Zhong was in charge of procuring rare treasures for the Empress which explains the compound being constructed on a very lavish scale.   Baolun Temple, Wenchang Taoist Temple, and the Imperial Academy are just a few of the other sights besides the old shops and traditional homes of the local inhabitants.  If you will be staying overnight in Chongqing, I like the 4 star Hongyadong Hotel which overlooks the river having wonderful roof top gardens to enjoy.  There are many restaurants within the complex nearby along with shops and many snacks and hand made candy being made.  If you are having a private custom tour (that's what I do) be sure that if you are taking a Yangtze River Cruise that you include a day in Chongqing before leaving.   Check out our web site at www.interlakechinatours.com  Our 26th year of doingTours to China and Tibet. 

Which International Airline Should I Choose?

There are several airlines to choose from when planning a trip to China.  You should do the research to check and see which airline fits your wants and needs.  Price is a factor but shouldn't always be first on your list.  Comfort and time of departure and arrival need to be considered also.  A Direct flight or flight that has a stop or plane change should be on your list.  A flight from Seattle to Beijing is listed with one airline very cheap.  I checked it out and it goes from Seattle to Chicago and then to Beijing.  Cheap but 22 hours of flying time and changing planes, going through an additional Security check etc. etc.  Is it worth the savings?   Maybe if time and comfort are not on your list.  I have represented Hainan Airlines from China as a wholesale tour operator since they arrived in Seattle several years ago. They fly from Seattle to Beijing in just 11 hours arriving in the late afternoon in time for dinner. They are owned by a corporation in China rather than the government.  Their service is tops with great food and an excellent Business class that rivals other airlines first class.  They fly the latest Boeing 787s. with seats that make into beds in Business class.   I have flown with them often and always appreciate their attention to details and comfort.  Hainan now has direct non-stop flights from Boston, Chicago, Seattle and now San Jose and a Seattle/Shanghai direct flights.  There are  connecting flights from many other cities at code share prices too.  For more information and costs please contact us by email:  interlak@eskimo.com   We can do your complete tour from home and back with our 25 years experience in China and Tibet.  Check out our web site at :  www.interlakechinatours.com   Our BBB rating of A+ is the best rating so you can always be sure you are in Good Hands.   My friends call me ChinaDave and I will be glad to help you with any plans or questions on travel to China.       Email:   interlak@eskimo.com