Address by H.E. Mr. Song Deheng
Consul General of the People's Republic of China
At the International Tourism Council, Mumbai
June 1st, 2006
Mrs. Dotivala, President of International Tourism Council,
Mr. Prakash Jain, Vice President of ITC, my old friend,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Evening,
I feel delighted to be invited to ITC, a leading tourism promotion organization in India. As Consul General with a mission of improving bilateral relations, especially when we are working together to promote people-to-people contacts in the "Year of Friendship" between us, I am obligated to brief you on "Tourism in China" followed by two short video films showing picturesque China which, I believe, will prompt most of you if not all present here, to set out for China. Of course, a visa issued by my Consulate is necessary.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I see it, the purpose of a tourist is nothing but looking for sites of ancient interest, enjoying mountains and waters, witnessing lifestyles and folk customs and experiencing rich culture of an alien country. No matter which purpose a tourist cherished, tour in China will be a wonderful experience of "dream comes true". You might have heard much more about Chinese economic achievements so far, but as an ancient country of Oriental civilization and a vast land of 9.6 million square kilometers with magnificent mountains and rivers, China is a perfect tourism destination as well as an excellent investment object. If you are interested in ancient China, you are suggested to visit Xian, Beijing and other cities to appreciate ages-old town, the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Terracotta Warriors, etc; if you prefer nature and avoid bustle and hustle of city life, Lijiang river in Guilin, Three Gorges on Yangtze River and Jiu Zhaigou namely Nine Stockade Gully in Sichuan Province, Southwest China would satisfy you ideally. With its thousands of years civilization and variety of ethnic groups and customs, it is rich in tourism resources. At present, there are 22 World Cultural Heritage Sites, 4 World Natural Heritage Sites and 4 World Natural & Cultural Heritage Sites across 20 Cities and Provinces in China with worldwide fame. Tourism resources in China are managed and explored by government, as a governmental institute, the Chinese National Tourism Administration classified tourist sites into 4 degrees and managed them efficiently. According to their facilities and service, there are now 484 sites of 4A-degree, 174 of 3A-degree, 648 of 2A-degree and 96 of 1A-degree. In those sites qualified by CNTA, tourists can enjoy wonderful cultural and natural scenery, excellent facilities and service. If not, you could complain to tourism administration offices that are available in every and each site.
Moreover, the Chinese people is so hospitable and traveling in China is cheap and safe. More than 2500 years ago, Confucius, one of the greatest Chinese philosophers and educators, said in his famous quotations "the Analects of Confucius" that "Isn't it a delight to have friends coming afar who cherish the same ideas and follow the same path?" Following this teaching, Chinese people never hesitate to cater their friends with kindness and hospitality. You could enjoy excellent service in hotels, restaurants and sites treatment just as local tourists do with national. Some days ago, an Internet survey showed that one of the Chinese people's shortcomings is "too kindly to foreigners". I hope Indian people would have the same "shortcoming" as Chinese people do, because I know, for instance, a foreign tourist should pay Rs.250 to visit Elephantia, Ajanta and Ellora Caves while residential Indians only pay Rs.5. a big margin of 50 times! I am often puzzled how could you develop tourism without giving national treatment to and up-grading facilities for foreign tourists? This is a question of getting eggs by growing chicken or killing them. Think of it. Expenditure on accommodation is also cheaper in China. Only need to pay less than 100 US$, you can have a standard room in a four-star hotel for one night with better facilities and service. As for transportation, could you imagine that you can have a less than two-hour flight from Shanghai to Beijing with Rs.1000-odd in off-season? You can save money for shopping on "Made in China".
As an industry, Chinese tourism has been developing with its economic opening and growth, vice versa, tourism has been playing an important role in improving national economy. To attract more foreign travelers, sophisticated tourism infrastructure and facilities such as airports, highways and hotels are indispensable. A developed tourism is additional to better investment environment; to attract more Chinese people spend more time and money in tourism, sustained economic development, the improvement of labour condition and living standard are essential. Tourism in China is geared to stay abreast of all such developments in the new era. With the economic booming of East Asia and Pacific Region, China has become one of the world's top tourism destinations. According to the statistics of World Tourism Organization, from 1990 to 2004, the international tourist arrivals in this region increased 3 times. In 2005, this region shared US$125 billion of international tourism receipts. China is rank to the No. 1 tourism destination in the region with more than 120 million foreign tourist arrivals and nearly US$ 30 billion incomes. On other hand, more than 25 million Chinese people went abroad for traveling, in near future, China would be one of the biggest tourism consumers in the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
India and China linked by mountains and waters, bilateral exchanges between two peoples could be traced back to thousand years ago. Xuan Zang, Fa Xian and other heroic pioneers are not only great disseminators of wisdom, but also great tourists. Nowadays, with the improvement of bilateral exchanges between our two countries, more and more Indian tourists enjoyed their travel in China. There are more than 3 lakh Indians traveled to Mainland China last year, nearly 20% up than 2004, exclusive of a few lakh Indian tourists to Hong Kong every year. Besides sightseeing and shopping in China, delicious and genuine Chinese cuisine is always an attractive program for them, no matter vegetarian or non-vegetarian they are. If you prefer Indian food, don't worry, you can find out Indian restaurants in Shanghai, Beijing and other major cities easily. What a easy business is applying a tourist visa from the Consulate, as an ordinary Indian tourist, you can get it within 4 working days. If you need more detailed information of Chinese tourism, please pay a visit to the Chinese Tourism Fair that is held by CNTA in Mumbai every December.
With the development of bilateral relations, the closer cooperation in the field of tourism between our two countries is a must. As in the programs of "Friendship Year", Indian tourism seminar and road shows, an Indian Food Festival and Indian photographic exhibition by Chinese photographers are scheduled to be held in China, Ministry of Tourism in New Delhi is launching its Chinese language website. Certainly, due to language problem, you may face some difficulty of communication esp. in some small cities in particular without tourist guide when you travel in China at present, but I believe it will be solved in due time with English speaking more popular in China and more interactions between our two peoples.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Living in a world called "Global Village", India and China are not at all two "distant neighbors". Frequent and continuous people to people contact by the means of tourism is right the way to eliminate estrangement and prejudice, to increase mutual understanding and to enrich lives. I am ready to work together with you to boost this industry that benefit both of us.
Thanks a lot.