Editor's note: The following article was translated and edited from an article that originally appeared in the overseas edition of the People's Daily. It summarises the most interesting and important tourism-related news to happen throughout China in 2011.

1) The beginning of "Chinese Cultural Tourism"
A plan for "Chinese Cultural Tourism" was officially launched on January 1st, 2011. Last year, keeping this plan in mind, Tour China, Sample Culture (游中华品文化) was used as the main promotional theme throughout China's domestic tourism market. Abroad, China's National Tourism Office ran a tourism campaign in 140 countries and regions, which sought to promote China's rich and varied cultural tourism as a sort of "natural resource" – which is actually a pretty accurate way of putting it since, as we all know… China has thousands of years of culture and history, composed of a rich and varied group of ethnic cultures. China is home to 40 World Cultural Heritage and World Natural Heritage items, as well as 657 Intangible Cultural Heritage items, and 2,351 historical objects as well as 109 historical and cultural cities are being actively preserved. These treasures serve as the rich cultural foundation on which China's tourism industry is based. The launch of "Chinese Cultural Tourism" in 2011 hopes to use the experiences of cultural tourism to promote the prosperity and further development of China's vast and varied cultural heritage.

2) Shanghai Disney breaks ground
M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E… Ten years in the making, the largest Chinese-foreign joint venture in the history of China's service industry (24.5 Billion RMB!), finally began construction of Shanghai Disney on April 8th, 2011. This project is seen as particularly important to the Yangtze River Delta region because even though it receives nearly a quarter of China's tourists and accounts for a third of China's tourism revenue, there are not that many prominent tourist attractions there (especially ones that cater to foreign tourists). The introduction of Shanghai Disney should help to fill that void.

3) Duty-free on Hainan Island
As of last April 20th, prior to departing Hainan, tourists were finally able to purchase duty-free goods at a special store in Sanya (with some restrictions, of course). On December 21st, the second duty-free shop, located at the Meilan Airport in Haikou, opened. Peopled are keeping a close eye on how this Hainan duty-free pilot project continues to develop, no doubt hoping (fingers crossed!) that it will eventually make its way to other parts of the country.

4) Xi'an International Horticultural Expo
Continuing China's recent string of ridiculously grandiose international events (See: Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo), the 2011 Xi'an International Horticulture Expo was held from April 28th to October 22nd. During that time, more than 15 million people visited Xi'an for the Expo, providing a huge boost to the rest of the city's tourism industry and encouraging tourism development in other parts of Western China as well.

5) May 19th now officially celebrated as "China Tourism Day"
In 2011, the State Council mandated that henceforth, every May 19th would now be celebrated as "China Tourism Day". Partially created as an appreciation day for Xu Xiake (徐霞客游记), a noted Chinese traveller and geographer during the Ming Dynasty, and more partially created to raise interest in domestic tourism (and spending more!) from mainlanders, the "China Tourism Day" initiative makes it clear that increasing domestic tourism is viewed as a very important part of China's future development plan.

6) Outbound tourism market opens to foreign investment
In late May 2011, the National Tourism Administration announced that three Chinese-foreign joint venture travel agencies would begin operating in China's outbound tourism market (the three travel agencies are: TUICHINA 中旅途易旅游有限公司 from Europe, CITS Express Travel Agency Co., Ltd. 国旅运通旅行社有限公司 from the United States and JTB New Era International Travel Co., Ltd. 交通公社新纪元国际旅行社有限公司 from Japan).

With the outbound tourism market officially open to foreign investment, it's clear that China's tourism market has finally started catching up with that whole globalisationfad that's been popular for the last few decades.

7) West Lake added to World Heritage List
At the World Heritage Committee meeting on June 24th, 2011, West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou was officially added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. And it's no wonder – West Lake is the perfect example of natural and cultural beauty all rolled into one! West Lake is the only lake in China to be included on the list, and is one of only a few other lakes to be classified as a cultural heritage site. Now that it made it on the World Heritage List, it's likely that even more visitors will come to see its beauty, which means that the locals will have to work extra hard to ensure that the area can continue to develop in a sustainable fashion.

8) New Individual Visiting Scheme (IVS) to Taiwan
Following the July 2008 announcement permitting mainland group tours to Taiwan, China officially opened IVS travel for mainland residents (from Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen) to Taiwan on June 28th, 2011. The new regulations will further stimulate the Taiwanese domestic tourism industry, deepen cross-strait exchanges and provide a better channel for communication between the Mainland and Taiwan. Those travelling under the IVS can organise their own travelling plans as they wish, which should provide a greater degree of freedom, as well as a better travelling experience for mainlanders.

9) Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail
At a total distance of 1,318 km and costing over 220 billion RMB, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail finally opened on June 30th, 2011. Soon after, talk of "High-Speed Rail Travel" became quite popular, with the first train tickets selling out pretty much immediately. The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail is referred to as a "Golden Travel Line", as it connects two of China's most important economic centres (not to mention it passes by nine World Heritage sites and 16 "China Excellent Tourism Cities".

10) Heixiazi Island opens
In October 2008, Heixiazi Island (黑瞎子岛) located on the Sino-Russian border, was officially returned to China. On July 20th, 2011, tourism to the island officially opened for the first time (registering through special travel agencies). The island is the furthest eastern point in China, and is sure to be quite a unique travel experience, especially for the well-versed traveller who feels like they've already seen it all.   

Source: people.com.cn
 

Related links
Swimming Against the Current: China's Tourism Industry
2010 Tourist Satisfaction Survey in China Reveals Travel Trends and Facts
Chinese Tourism Service Standards Third Rate Say Foreigners

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Keywords: Chinese tourism industry trends in 2011 top 10 Chinese tourism news 2011 Chinese cultural tourism Shanghai Disney world travelling around China duty-free in China