It wasn’t that long ago that only the most intrepid travelers would come to China. But in recent years, especially since the Beijing Olympics, it’s seemed that people from all countries and walks of life are increasingly making visiting the Middle Kingdom a travel priority.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is predicting China to become the world’s most popular travel destination sometime between 2016 and 2018.

An increase in international visitors to China has potential upsides such as improving mutual understanding between China and the world. But there are also downsides, such as the potential environmental and social impact of an increase in numbers foreign travelers.

According to figures provided by the UNWTO, China had 53 million international visitors in 2010 and is already the number three international tourism destination in the world.

We believe this volume of inbound travelers visiting any country has the potential to either harm a country or improve it. This is why now, more than ever, we are dedicated to providing sustainable, socially responsible travel in China – with the eventual hope that even China’s domestic travel industry will see that sustainability and social responsibility need not get in the way of unforgettable travel experiences.

Watch this space throughout 2011 for more information about the little – and big – things we’ll be doing to promote sustainable, socially responsible travel in China.

More than a quarter of a billion people visited officially recognized ‘scenic spots’, spending 116.6 billion yuan (US$17.5 billion) during the recent National Day golden week holiday, Xinhua is reporting.

Tourist traffic was up 27.1 percent over the same period last year, with spending up by nearly a third. These strong numbers suggest that there is still plenty more room for growth in China’s domestic tourist market.

More than 57 million people took to the skies when traveling during the seven-day holiday, which celebrated the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that the number of air passengers grew by 24 percent over the 2009 National Day holiday, but the number of flights had only grown by 5.3 percent.

Train traffic in China set new records, with more than eight million passengers riding the country’s rails in one day. During the period from October 1 through 7, more than 63 million people traveled by train, a jump of 24 percent over the same period last year.

As more and more Chinese discover the joys of travel, sustainability is becoming increasingly important. This is one of the reasons that WildChina joined the board of directors of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) this year, with founder Mei Zhang as its representative.

WildChina looks forward to continuing to work with the GSTC and other organizations, businesses and individuals to achieve the goal of sustainable travel in China – and beyond.

This week has been a somewhat inspiring one for me from a professional perspective. As I think I have mentioned in a previous blog, China often gets bad international publicity when it comes to their environmental decisions and practices. I am not saying that this publicity is unfounded nor unwarranted, but rather that ‘good news stories’ about China just seem to be lacking in the international arena.

Changqing Staff who attended training

This week, Changqing National Nature Reserve, the reserve that I am working for, held a training program for its field staff and also a small number of its office staff. The focus of the training was ‘Eco-tourism’, and it was supported financially by WWF. The training was one of the priority actions that came out of Changqing’s recent ‘Ecotourism Action Plan’, a plan that focuses upon what Changqing Administrative Bureau hope to achieve in the coming three to five years.

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WildChina recently embarked on a series of initiatives to improve local practices in rural areas in southwest China. This is the final section of the three part series examining efforts to improve life for those in rural areas and the technologies that enable a better standard of living.

Jiuzhaigou National Park sits in the rugged West of Sichuan at 2000 meters elevation on the edge of Tibet. This cluster of virgin mixed forests is home to several endangered animals; giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys traverse amongst the limestone cliffs and the effervescent blue lakes. Despite its natural beauty, Jiuzhaigou has had a tenuous history. It was discovered in the early 1970s, and hurt by large-scale logging efforts. Jiuzhaigou was declared a national park in 1978, and the park’s ecological restoration began.

Leaves turn magnificent colors over a crystal lake in Autumn

Jiuzhaigou established a formal relationship with Yosemite National Park in 2006 to promote international cooperation that benefits both parks.

WildChina accompanied the Yosemite team on their first official sister park visit to Jiuzhaigou in 2009. On this trip, Yosemite preservationists completed a four day survey trek through Jiuzhaigou valley. Through these trips and related efforts, the sister parks aim to share resource management techniques and cooperate to preserve natural biodiversity. Read the rest of this entry »

WildChina recently embarked on a series of initiatives to improve local practices in rural areas in southwest China. This is the second of a three part series examining efforts to improve life for those in rural areas and the technologies that enable a better standard of living.

At the upper reaches of the Minjiang river and the edge of the Tibetan plateau sits Shenxi village, the remote home to a group of Chinese villagers. Shenxi village, an hour hike from the nearest paved road, seems a world apart from the rest of civilization. However, the activities of this town profoundly influence the rest of Sichuan province and surrounding areas. Shenxi village sits atop the Sichuan water basin, which stores water runoff from the Himalayas and supplies vital water to Sichuan and regions downriver.

Water cleanliness is a persistent issue for China’s water lifelines that carry snowmelt from the Himalayas eastward to the Pacific Ocean, from which one quarter of China’s population drinks contaminated water every day, according to the United Nations (PDF). These issues with water cleanliness are often the result of unsanitary conditions and practices in human settlements that border major rivers.

Seperated by only a mountain from the epicenter of last year’s earthquake, Shenxi village was devastated by the damage it inflicted. Aside from the toll on human life, many of the buildings in Shenxi collapsed outright and those still standing suffered heavy damage. Villagers who returned to Shenxi village after the earthquake rebuilt their homes with the limited resources available, and the result was a village that lacked adequate sanitation. WildChina recently completed a three day project building bio-friendly toilets in this area.

Students and Villager in front of completed toilet

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Attention, bicycle-loving Beijingers: do you share WildChina’s passion for environmental sustainability and green travel? Do you own a bike, or know a friend who does? Are you in the city this weekend? If you answered yes to any of these questions, get involved in the 350 Beijing Green Train this Saturday, October 24.

You may find yourself wondering: what is the 350 Beijing Green Train, who is behind it, and why is it an important event for environmental efforts in Beijing and beyond? To get a better sense of the people and vision behind this event, Alex G. spoke with Clay Baylor, Project Coordinator at Future Generations China, which is one of the collaborating organizations behind the 350 Beijing Green Train.

WildChina (WC): What is the 350 Beijing Green Train? Who is behind this event?

Clay Baylor (CB): 350 is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. On Saturday, October 24, they are asking people across the globe to organize an action and snap a photo in an effort to show world leaders our support for a serious international climate treaty to come out of Copenhagen.

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WildChina’s friends at Conservation International have collaborated with the Shan Shui Conservation Center to create this beautiful video talking about ways they use infrared cameras to monitor wildlife movements in the forest. In the video, Dr. Dajun Wang of Peking University talks about how the cameras capture images of the natural state of the wilderness, without human interruption, and help researchers track animal movements and populations. The photos of the pandas, monkeys, tigers and takins are quite beautiful.

WildChina was recently mentioned in two articles about China, which we’d like to share here.

• Making Business Travel Responsible in AmCham’s China Brief: Discusses ways business travelers and meetings planners can create more responsible meetings and events in China. Contains tips on ideas for getting out of a hotel ballroom, away from a powerpoint slide, and going green!

• China Marks Olympic Anniversary, Reflects on Olympic Legacy in Voice of America: Find out how Beijing has changed since August 2008. WildChina CEO Albert Ng discusses how tourism trends have evolved in the year after the Olympics.
  

We hope you enjoy these pieces! If you’re interested in talking to individuals at WildChina about travel in China or responsible travel, please contact emma dot starks (at) wildchina dot com

Happy travels!

When I spoke to my colleague Jia Liming on the phone last night, she could hardly contain the excitement she felt after visiting Pudacuo National Park in Yunnan’s Shangri-La County. “It’s amazing,” she gushed. “It used to be completely degraded and messy, and now it’s this pristinely beautiful place.”

Jia is currently leading a trip of guests through Yunnan. With a focus on learning more about China’s glaciers and the hidden ethnic minorities in this province, Jia’s trip will take her and our WildChina guests to some of Yunnan’s most spectacular and for some, endangered, sites. Read the rest of this entry »