Eastern rise ... the Great Wall.Credit: iStock
Sarah Thomas reports China's many charms are making it a boom destination.
China is tipped to become the world's biggest tourist destination by 2015, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. In the past 10 years, annual visitor numbers have increased by 8 million to 48 million - matched by an explosion in hotel and infrastructure developments and boosted by the 2008 Beijing Olympics and this year's Shanghai Expo. Here are some of the newest ways to visit the nation.
Tours
China might not be an obvious choice for a family trip but there's plenty to keep young minds occupied and entertained.
Abercrombie & Kent has created a two-week Chinese Family Adventure that includes making terracotta warriors after a visit to Xian, holding a baby panda at a research centre in Chengdu and a ride through Shanghai's dazzlingly lit Bund Tunnel. Other features include visits to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Shanghai's Science and Technology Museum. The tour runs from July 8-22 and costs from $12,460 for adults and from $7260 for children younger than 12; airfares not included. Phone 1300 851 800, see abercrombiekent.com.au.
Another option is to make an easy road trip around China from the comfort of a Toyota Prado with the driving tour company On the Road in China. The Tibetan Highlands Kunming tour is a new itinerary across the eastern Tibetan plateau, taking in the temples of Lhasa and crossing the Yangtze, Salween and Mekong rivers against backdrops of amazing scenery.
The tour departs on June 20 and September 2 and costs $6700 a person, excluding flights. See ontheroadinchina.com.
Attractions
The big event for this year is the Shanghai Expo. Running from May 1 to October 31, the world fair is expected to draw 70 million visitors.
Although aimd primarily at business travellers, there's plenty to lure leisure visitors, too, such as the outlandish individual pavilions of more than 200 participating nations, which will stretch across a three-kilometre area. Australia's pavilion will feature a red-ochre, rock-like design. The city's Bund riverfront area has reopened for the expo after a three-year spruce-up, including the addition of the Bund Bull statue by artist Arturo Di Modica, who created a similar bronze feature on Wall Street.
On a much smaller scale, Intrepid Travel is running tours to the Longjing "Dragon Well" Tea Village, to show where tea is grown and provide a glimpse of a small village's culture. The area near Hangzhou in the country's south-east is also known for silk and the tour includes a visit the National Silk Museum. Both attractions are featured on Intrepid's 21-day Grand China itinerary, with prices from $4200, excluding airfares. Phone 1300 364 512, see intrepidtravel.com.
Hotels and resorts
The jewel in Shanghai's reinvigorated crown is the new Peninsula Shanghai, a landmark art-deco-inspired building, which the operators claim harks back to the city's heyday as "Paris of the East". The hotel, officially opened last month, overlooks the Huangpu River and British Consulate Gardens and has 235 rooms. Luxurious quirks of the hotel include a full-scale replica of a 1930s seaplane in its Rosemonde Aviation Lounge, customised Rolls-Royce Phantoms and the den-like Salon de Ning late-night lounge. Rooms from Yuan3200 ($501), see peninsula.com.
Away from big-city life, Aman Resorts has opened a luxury rural retreat near Hangzhou, a region of great natural beauty in the south-east of the country. The 42-room Amanfayun includes buildings that date back more than a century and housed tea plantation workers. It is close to historic temples and the scenic West Lake. Rooms from $US333 ($355) until April 30, from $US580 after May 1; see amanresorts.com.
The elegant colonial-style, heritage-listed Astor Hotel, which opened in 1863 and has a long history of hosting foreign diplomats and heads of state, reopens this year after a $US22 million renovation designed to revive its former glory. It's in Tianjin, China's third-largest city, about 120 kilometres south-east of Beijing, within a coastal region known for fine seafood. The hotel is scheduled to open mid-year. See starwoodhotels.com.
For something completely different, mix with Beijing's beautiful people at the boutique Hotel G. Its Scarlett Wine Bar and Restaurant is a big drawcard for the city's trendy residents but guests can also enjoy the hotel's 1960s-inspired retro chic and the vibrant, prime-coloured lighting that defines its unique facade. Rooms from Yuan1088; see hotel-g.com.
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