China is rich in tourist resources with its long history, many scenic spots and historic sites, famous mountains and great rivers, distinctive operas, music, dances and folklore, and world-renowned Chinese cuisine.     

In recent years, China has met the demands of tourists at various levels by building, expanding and renovating a lot of hotels and restaurants. At present, there are nearly 4,000 star-level hotels around the country. All large and medium-sized cities and tourist sites have hotels with complete facilities and excellent services for domestic and international tourists.

In 2001, 89.01 million tourists entered China, or an increase of 6.7 percent over the previous year; the number of foreign tourists topped 11.23 million, or an increase of 10.5 percent over that of the previous year; and the foreign exchange earning from tourism reached US $17.8 billion, or an increase of 9.6 percent over that of the previous year. The income from domestic tourism has grown by a large margin, coming to 352.2 billion yuan, or an increase of 10.9 percent over that of the previous year. Tourism income totaled 499.5 billion yuan, or an increase of 10.5 percent over that of the previous year, which remained higher than the overall growth speed of the national economy. Tourism has become a rising industry with the greatest vitality in China's economic development, as well as one of the new economic growth points.

Development of Tourism

1978 180.9 number of incoming tourists (10,000 persons)

1985  1,783.3

1990  2,746.2

1995  4,638.7

2000  8,344.4

2001  8,901.0

Tourism income in foreign exchange (100 million US dollars)

1978  2.6

1985  12.5

1990  22.2

1995  87.3

2000  162.3

2001  177.9