chinese tourists
so I was reading this article in the NYTIMES about the wulingyuan national park with all of these amazing sandstone pillars. they talk about increasing chinese tourism. with about with 1.2 billion people, and an increasing percentage of the population migrating to cities and becoming wealthier and more educated, I'm willing to bet that at some point there are going to be hoards of freakin chinese tourists running around the world. yea I know what you're thinkin. I was thinking it too...there's going to be a lot of freakin digital camera devices and goofy visors sold when that happens. you thought the japanese tour in hoards, well japan ain't got nothin on china!!!
so it's no mystery that the tourism industry is going to boom when the chinese boom, but where the heck are they all going to visit?!! williamsburg (I can't imagine the chinese taking pictures of trust fund hipsters at vintage stores)?? Chi-town (shit it's way too cold there)? London (i'm pretty sure that tiny country couldn't fit 1.2 billion people...ha!!)???
2 comments:
I thought this post needed just a little love. As I observed recently in Beijing, and just the concept of nouveau riche in general... conspicuous consumption is what it's all about. Newly wealthy Chinese aren't going to go backpacking in the Amazon or to Namibia on an eco-travel trek. They're going to go to Florence, the French Riviera, NYC, Vegas and be swank and flashy. But there is also a strong appreciation of history in Chinese culture so doing stuff like seeing the Vatican or the Mona Lisa would be popular too.
Okay, now let's get back to talking about booty texts and game and all that stuff we really care about!!
It's odd to think that these major destinations were only opened up to Chinese tourists a few years ago and how it's still so heavily restricted. whereas we're pretty free to travel wherever we dare. puts things in perspective...
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