Travel

Some things tour guides should not shout about

By Andrew McEwen (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-01 10:11

EXPERT'S TAKE  ANDREW MCEWEN

Tourism in China has one huge advantage and believe me, it's not the food. What makes traveling in China different is that tourists here are ripped off a lot less than in other countries. I believe that's a significant observation into national character: If I were Chinese, I would take real pride in the behavior of ordinary people toward foreigners.

As foreign visitors, we are sometimes treated better by the Chinese. That's a shameful double standard, but it's understandable if you visit the Forbidden City.

In my recent years as a luxury tour leader, I found it hard not to hate tour groups with their shouting guides. If you can't ban their megaphones, then please ban music from the public address system, especially Kenny G. I guarantee tourist numbers will double overnight.

As my friend Ed Jocelyn and I spent 384 days walking the countryside, we saw countless places along the trail that were so achingly beautiful they literally made me gasp in awe.

But I won't be revealing the location of these places anytime soon because I know what tourism can do to a place.

Tourism authorities here, although not intentionally evil, have yet to learn how to develop a site without destroying its local culture. Look at what has happened to Yangshuo, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, or Badaling in northern Beijing or even the new Qianmen to the south of the Tian'anmen Square and you'll thank me for keeping my mouth shut.

Andrew McEwen is a Beijing-based freelance writer and tour leader who first came to China in 1997. He and colleague Ed Jocelyn retraced the route of the first Long March on foot in 2001-2002 and in 2004 published their critically acclaimed account in The Long March.

(China Daily 06/01/2011 page16)