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Tourism in the People's Republic of China has greatly expanded over the last few decades. The emergence of a newly rich business class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities are both fueling this boom in travel. Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

The most popular tourist attraction in China is the Great Wall of China. Also popular are the Forbidden City in Beijing, which was once the center of Chinese Imperial power, and the Terracotta Army, a vast collection of terracotta statues of Chinese Imperial soldiers. A section of the Great Wall near Beijing during winter The course of the Great Wall is shown in this map dated from 1805 The Great Wall (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: , literally long city wall) is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built between 5th century... This article is about the Chinese imperial palace in Beijing. ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; IPA: ;  ), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... The Terracotta Army (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally soldier and horse funerary statues) or Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of 8,099 life-size Chinese terra cotta figures of warriors and horses located near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ). The figures were discovered... Terra cotta is a hard semifired waterproof ceramic clay used in pottery and building construction. ...

Organization

Tourism is still controlled. In the last few years, the Chinese government has negotiated a series of agreements with selected countries. These limit tourism to officially-approved tour groups, partly to give the host country protection against illegal migrants, and in general to allow the state to control any aspect of tourism which it feels in need to regulate. Individual tourism is still rare within China. Tourists visiting China, for the most part, are allowed to move freely.

Language

Even though English is becoming more and more popular in China, most Chinese people do not understand English. Mandarin is virtually universal in Mainland China, though many dialects do exist, with some, like Cantonese having millions of speakers. Although many Chinese do not speak English, due to the educational system many Chinese near and in urban areas can read and write, even though they may have difficulty with spoken English. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Standard Mandarin – also known as Standard Chinese or Standard spoken Chinese – is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore. ... Spoken Chinese Spoken Chinese comprises many regional variants. ... Cantonese is a major dialect group or language of the Chinese language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ...

Leifeng Pagoda on the West Lake, near Hangzhou

ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1944x2592, 1347 KB) 从三潭印月望雷峰塔 Shizhao2005年于杭州 File links The following pages link to this file: Hangzhou ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1944x2592, 1347 KB) 从三潭印月望雷峰塔 Shizhao2005年于杭州 File links The following pages link to this file: Hangzhou ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city in the Peoples Republic of China and the capital of Zhejiang province. ...

Famous tourism sites

Hainan Island

Hainan Island, sometimes referred to as "Hawaii of the Orient" is located off the south coast of mainland China. It hosts most of China's tropical resorts, and because of this, is extremely popular with mainland Chinese, as well as those from Hong Kong and nearby Asian countries. During the past few years, the Chinese government has heavily promoted Hainan Island as a world class resort with beaches and golf courses which are plentiful on Hainan Island. In addition, the ability to visit traditional Li and Miao cultural villages, hike among lush tropical rain forests and mountainsides, and visit significant cultural artifacts from long ago dynasties, has had a significant effect on tourism on the island. The Chinese and Hainan governments intend to continue to spend a great deal of money on infrastructure (December 2004 completion of Hainan to mainland China train; and, around the island expressways for cars and buses) and promotion of Hainan Island. Not to be confused with the unrelated provinces of Henan and Hunan Hainan (海南; pinyin: Hǎinán) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located at the southern end of the country. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... ...

See also

• Culture of China
• Dazu Rock Carvings
• Grand Canal of China
• Guilin
• Hangzhou
• Jiuzhaigou Valley
• Lijiang City
• Longmen Grottoes
• Luzhi
• Mogao Caves
• Mount Emei
• Mount Huangshan
• Mount Jiuhuashan
• Mount Lushan
• Mount Qingcheng
• Mount Taishan
• Mount Tianzhu
• Mount Wudang
• Pingyao
• The Summer Palace
• Suzhou
• The Temple of Heaven
• Three Gorges
• Tourism in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Tourist attractions of Beijing
• West Lake
• Xian

A Chinese Tang Dynasty tri-color glazed porcelain horse (ca. ... External link UNESCO World Heritage Centre page Categories: World Heritage Sites in China | Chinese Buddhist Grottoes | China geography stubs ... Grand Canal of China The Grand Canal of China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is the longest ancient canal or artificial river in the world. ... position of Guilin in Guangxi Guilin in Guangxi Guilin (Chinese: æ¡‚æž—; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuei-lin, Postal System Pinyin: Kweilin; Zhuang: Gveilinz) is one of Chinas most picturesque cities, with a population of 670,000, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the Peoples...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city in the Peoples Republic of China and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... Jiuzhaigou Valley (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: JiÇ”zhàigōu; lit. ... Lijiang City (Chinese: 丽江市; Hanyu Pinyin: ) refers to an administrative division comprising of urban and rural areas in northwestern Yunnan Province, China. ... The Longmen Grottoes (ch. ... Puli 甫里 was the ancient name of water town 甪直镇 Luzhi township. ... The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) form a system of 492 temples near Dunhuang, in Gansu province, China. ... Location within China Mount Emei (峨眉山, pinyin Éméi Shān, Wade-Giles O2-mei2 Shan1, literally Delicate Eyebrow Mountain) is a mountain in Sichuan province of Western China. ... Huangshan 2002 Mount Huangshan is a mountain range in Anhui province in eastern China. ... Jiuhuashan is one amongst the four holiest mountains of China associated with Buddha. ... Mount Lushan is a mountain in the Peoples Republic of China (also known as Mount Lu), situated south of the city of Jiujiang in the Jiangxi Province, with Boyang Lake at its bank. ... Mount Qingcheng is a mountain in Guanxian, Sichuan, China. ... Tai Shan Porters at Tai Shan Taishan(泰山) is a mountain in Taian, Shandong, China. ... Tianzhu Mountain Tianzhu Mountain is located in Anhui, China. ... Cliffside Temple at Wudangshan The Wudang Mountains (武當山; pinyin: wǔ dāng shān, also known as Wu Tang Shan or simply Wudang), are a small mountain range in the Hubei province of China, just to the south of the manufacturing city of Shiyan. ... Pingyao (平遥, pinyin: Píngyáo) is a Chinese county in central Shanxi province. ... The Summer Palace in Beijing The Summer Palace (pinyin: Yiheyuan, 颐和园) is a palace in Beijing, China. ... Suzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; ancient name: 吳) is a city with a long history on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. ... The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven (Traditional Chinese: 天壇; Simplified Chinese: 天坛; Pinyin: Tiān Tán) is situated in south eastern urban Beijing, in Xuanwu District. ... The Three Gorges (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: [ ]) region is a scenic area along the Yangtze River in the Peoples Republic of China with a total length of approximately 200 km. ... Tourism in the Republic of China includes the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, as well as rural towns and villages. ... Beijings tourist attractions are plenty and rich in history. ... The West Lake West Lake (Chinese: ; pinyin: XÄ« Hú) is a famous fresh water lake located in central Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province of eastern China. ... 1) The city of Xian in China 2) An alternative spelling of Christian, by analogy with Xmas as an alternative spelling of Christmas. ...

External links

• China travel guide from Wikitravel
• China National Tourist Office (NYC & LA)
• China National Tourism Administration
• Photo Story on "Tourism in China" by British Photojournalist Sean Gallagher
• China Travel