China in lonely planet
Friday, November 30th, 2007早上吃早餐的时候随手从大脚氏的书架上拿下一本 Lonely Planet - China，看到 introduction 里面这样介绍中国：
After being closed for repairs for almost 30 years the Middle Kingdom suddenly swung open its big red doors - but not quite all the way. Comrades, we must increase the production of tourist! China desperately needs the foreign exchange that tourism so conveniently provides, and has done very well out of deal so far. With several million tour-buildings in China are, appropriately, hotels. Money-losing state-run companies have dived into the tourism busniess and have found it to be extremely profitable-business has been so good that even the People’s Liberation Army has opened a few hotels to enhance the military budget.
In the late 1970s the tour groups started rolling in but the prospects for individual travel looked extremely dim. It has always been possible for individuals to travel to the People’s Republic of China(PRC), but by invitation only, and until the late 1970s few managed an invite. The first regulars were people from Sweden and France (nations favoured by China) who stepped off the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1979.
In 1981 the Chinese suddenly started issuing visas to solo and uninvited travellers through a couple of their embassies overseas, but mainly through various agencies in Hong Kong. Just about anymore who wanted a visa could get one, but since there was no fanfare, news spread slowly by word of mouth. By 1983 it seemed that just about everyone who landed in Hong Kong was going to China. After all, we’d been waiting over 30 years to travel in the country unfettered by tour guides.
Nowadays the remote travellers’ trails of China have been worn down to gullies tramped by curious foreigners who notice that the image of the late ’60s and early ’70s - hardly peasants and sturdy worker in blue uniforms buildings a Communist heaven - has changed. Today they see motorcycle gangs(relatively benign) in Canton; daring punk rockers challenging the authorities in Beijing; Kentucky Fried Chichen plugging its roasted birds and hot buns across the street from Mao Zedong’s mausoleum; karaoke bars in nearly every tourist hotel catering to Taiwanese (isn’t Taiwan still the enemy?); old women making offerings in Taoist temples; a Christian church packed to the steeple for a Sunday-night service; counter-feit Rolex watches for sale on street corners; and a burgeoning black market in almost every tourist town.
Although many early guide books spoke of the country in glowing terms, travellers of the 1980s quickly discovered that solo journeys in China were extremely difficult, at least if you wanted to go without a tour. Special permits were needed for travel outside the cities, transport was unavailable, food was inedible and ’sanitation’ was just a slogan. At empty hotels, sneering desk clerks told foreigners that no rooms were available. To top it off, foreigners were always charged extra high prices for the always-rotten service.
But that was then and this is now - traveling in China has gotten much easier than it used to be, and most Westerners seem to be staying longer and enjoying the place more. To be sure, hassles still exist - many budget travellers are frustrated at not being able to stay at cheap hotels simply because the Public Security Bureau(PSB) - the police - prohibits it. Infrastructure is overstrained, especially the railway system, and in many backward parts of China, foreigners are still stared at as if they’re alien creatures. And it’s still standard practice to charge foreigners more than locals. But compared to what it used to be like, the improvements are truly astonishing - excellent food, comfortable hotels, telephones that work and taxis when you need them. A decade ago, such luxuries were unheard of. China has even become a decent place for shopping - the department stores, one known for specialising in empty shelves, are now overflowing with consumer goods.
Conditions continue to improve - after what seems like several hundred years of stagnation, China is now making a determined effort to modernise and catch up with the West. The size of the task is staggering, and now is a unique opportunity to get some whiff of what the Communists have been doing for the last 45 years. The sleeping giant stood up in 1949 and, whatever you feel about the place, China is a country that cannot be ignored.
