BEIJING (Reuters) - Compared with other countries, China's new urban rich are younger, better educated and keener to travel, a survey by international credit card organisation MasterCard showed on Monday. In general, Hong Kong and Macau remain the top two foreign destinations for newly affluent Chinese. But among those who have been abroad at least five times, Europe and the United States are becoming the favourite destinations, the survey found.
YANGSHUO, China Just 15 years ago Yangshuo was a small village, generally visited for a few hours by those on tours down the Li River; most Chinese tourists elected to take advantage of Guilin's superior accommodation options. After some favorable reports by adventurous overseas guests and glowing write-ups in the ubiquitous Lonely Planet series, Yangshuo gradually became known on Asia's backpacker circuit, offering cheap hostels and banana pancakes to laowai (foreigners) on a budget.
China's leading online travel agent, Ctrip.com, reported stronger than expected second quarter results this week, indicating growing interest in online flight, hotel and vacation package bookings in the world's most populous nation. Ctrip's Net revenues jumped 52 per cent year-on-year to $37.8m. Ctrip's strongest growth was in air ticket sales, which rose 67 per cent over the past year. The company sold about 2.55 million air tickets during the three months from April to June,
One year from today - Aug. 8, 2008 - the Olympic Games will hold its Opening Ceremonies in Beijing, China, with the competition running through Aug. 24. And yet, a year's not that far away. If you're considering going, planning should start now, and along those lines, here are some things you might want to know as you start figuring out what to do and how to do it: Do I need a passport?
