This past National Day holiday saw upwards of half a billion Chinese citizens travelling. While some flew off to international destinations, the 【小题1】 majority enjoyed the many tourist sites that China has to offer. If you were one of those people who decided to explore China’s scenic spots, you probably realized that it isn’t just the mountain steps that are steep-the entrance fees are, too!

The average cost of the highest 【小题2】5A attractions is 109 yuan. This could prove to be a little too steep for some families, who find themselves spending too large a portion of their holiday budget on admission tickets. The 32 5A locations that upped their prices in the past five years experienced an average 【小题3】 of over 40 percent. The bad news is that these prices are expected to continue to rise. So how does China’s situation compare to other parts of the world? The average fees for cultural and historical sites seem to be on par with(与…同价) international 【小题4】. It’s quite another story, however, when you compare natural wonders. For example, the cost of a ticket to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park(张家界国家森林公园) hovers around 245 yuan for a three-day tour. This seems【小题5】 high when you consider that a week long pass to America’s Yellowstone National Park (黄石国家公园)is a mere 74 yuan. There are 【小题6】 benefits to increased revenue(收益) from ticket sales, which support necessary 【小题7】 , maintenance and operation costs. This is especially important for sites that must keep visitor numbers down in order to protect the natural environment. However, it must also be 【小题8】 that many of China’s tourist attractions are operated by private companies who are ultimately protecting their bottomline(盈亏底线).

While the government has put some 【小题9】 in place, such as only allowing entrance fees to be raised once every three years, they have not 【小题10】 the upper limit of ticket prices and increases. Further measures to settle the dispute are being considered. In the meantime, some families are forced to re-think if some attractions are really worth the costs.

Swiss village bans tourists from taking photos because it’s too beautiful

Located in the Swiss Alps, near the famous resort of St. Moritz, the commune of Bergün is one of the most beautiful mountain villages in Europe. So beautiful, in fact, that photos of it shared on social media may make people feel depressed that they can’t visit, so local authorities banned tourists from taking photos.

It may sound like a joke, but it’s actually a new law adopted by the Bergün village council and 【小题1】 by its mayor. To discourage visitors from taking photos in Bergün, they plan to 【小题2】 a symbolic €5 fine for those caught breaking the new rules.

According to a statement by the Bergün tourism authority, “It is scientifically proven that beautiful holiday photos on social media make the viewers unhappy because they cannot be there themselves.”

However, it seems unlikely that Bergün’s new law was really thought of as a way to 【小题3】 Facebook or Instagram users of the depressing experience of seeing the beauty of the village. As the news went 【小题4】 online, many assumed that it was actually a clever marketing 【小题5】, a theory that was at least partially confirmed by the village’s director of tourism, Marc-Andrea Barandun.

“In the background of course the idea is that everyone is talking about Bergün,” he told The Local. “So it’s a combination of both — we made the law and also there’s some marketing aim behind it.”

To show that they were serious about the law, Bergün authorities 【小题6】 photos of the village from its Facebook and Twitter accounts, and declared their intention to delete them from the Bergün website too.

If the new law was just a 【小题7】 strategy, it actually worked wonders, as people started 【小题8】 more photos of the beautiful mountain village soon after news of the photo ban started making news headlines.

A few days ago, Mayor Nicolay 【小题9】 the debatable photo ban in a video, where he offered people visiting Bergün a special 【小题10】 to take photos. He reminded them to think twice before sharing the pictures online, though, as they could be making their friends depressed.

As pandemic measures persist, vacationing locally remains a main option for holiday

“Tailor-made trips", “staycation” and “cultural tours” have become the buzzwords describing the domestic tourism market during the recent National Day holiday, which ran from Oct 1 through Friday.

On an online platform for travel customization, a user can book a 【小题1】 itinerary with a click of a button after providing information such as place of departure, destination, travel dates and number of travelers, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“The tour customization specialist who received my order 【小题2】 a travel plan for me according to my specifications in terms of food, accommodation, transport and recreational activities,” a tourist from the eastern city of Qingdao told Xinhua. “A dedicated driver and guide were assigned to us, and any details could be 【小题3】 at my request.”

Dai Xuefeng, director of the division for tourism and leisure at the National Academy of Economic Strategy from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua: “Bespoke holidays are an inevitable result of the development of the tourism industry and of economic growth.”

Vacationing 【小题4】 remains a main option as COVID-19 precautions continue. In the week leading up to the holiday, on-demand services platform Meituan saw searches for “local tours” and “suburban attractions” surge by 440 percent week-on-week.

Suburban attractions in Beijing, such as Universal Beijing Resort and Beijing Wtown, were among the popular choices for local residents, Xinhua reported.

In the Central China province of Hubei, rural tours, fruit and vegetable picking experiences, and camping trips emerged as the top options. They were expected to take in more than 60 percent of the province’s tourist spending during the holiday week, according to Xinhua.

Zhou Qiao, a resident of Hubei’s Yichang city who vacationed at the local Bailihuang scenic area during the holiday, told Xinhua: “We booked tents in advance and took our family here to experience the wonder of watching the sunrise in the morning and counting the stars in the evening. My children loved the experience very much.”

The wide 【小题5】 of cultural events and destinations in cities drew huge numbers of urban residents during the holiday week.

Historical architectural 【小题6】 Sanfang Qixiang, which 【小题7】 means “three lanes and seven alleys”, in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian province, entertained tourists with 【小题8】 cultural heritage-themed talent shows and Yueju Opera performances, among others.

In Shanghai, many museums 【小题9】 exhibitions, cultural activities, as well as night tours to add a(n) 【小题10】 of culture to the holiday fun, said China Central Television.

Li Xinjian, a professor at Beijing International Studies University’s School of Tourism Sciences, told Xinhua that the integration of culture and tourism highlights the cultural experiences in tourist trips, and tailor-made tours offer in-depth cultural experiences that large group tours are unable to provide.