Visitors from 45 countries can now benefit from a 72-hour visa-free stay policy in Beijing and Shanghai, a move that could attract more transit visitors.

Visitors holding third country visas and plane tickets can now apply for a transit without visa at Beijing Capital International Airport. Foreign visitors are not permitted to leave Beijing to other Chinese cities during the 72 hours, and have to depart from the capital city.

The 45 approved nations are as following:
31 European nations: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,  Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdoms.

6 American nations: United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile.

2 Oceania nations: Australia, New Zealand.

6 Asian nations: Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Qatar, United Arab Emirates.

Restrictions of the 72-hour visa-free transit policy:
1. This regulation does not apply to passengers who travel on a single return flight (e.g., London – Beijing - London), which means the next destination and original departure can not be the same. They need to apply for a transit visa before their departure.
2. The 72-hour visa-free stay only applies to transit via Beijing Capital International Airport. Passengers by train or any other vehicles should still apply for a transit visa.
3. Visitors have to purchase connecting plane tickets before arrival to Beijing. The policy does not apply to passengers who are planning to purchase plane tickets upon arrival at Beijing airport.
4. Visitors are not allowed to leave Beijing to other cities during the 72-hour visa-free period. They can only depart Beijing from Beijing Capital International Airport.
5. If visitors are unable to depart on time due to unavoidable reasons, such as flight cancellation or treatment of sudden disease, they need to apply for a visa from Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB). Otherwise, visitors cannot apply for an extension of stay in Beijing.

The same policy also took effect in Shanghai where visitors can submit applications at Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International  Airport.

We are looking for charities, non-profit organisations or individuals who are planning to trek the Great Wall of China for fundraising events. The 8-day itinerary includes 5-day trek on the Great Wall and a visit to Forbidden City. We will walk on the original and remote sections of the Great Wall near Beijing. Trip will begin on 8th May and finish on 15th May, 2013.

Anyone who are working in charities or non-profit organisations in UK or Australia are welcomed to join this press trip.

We will cover ground cost here in Beijing for successful participants, and participants need to pay their own international flights to Beijing. Please find detailed itinerary and trip note at  http://www.greatwallhiking.com/press-trip.html.

Foreign tourists from 45 countries will be able to enjoy a 72-hour visa-free stay in Beijing from Jan 1, the city government announced Wednesday morning. 

The policy is aimed at making Beijing more accessible to the world and is expected to attract more overseas travelers.

However, visitors without a visa will not be allowed to travel outside the capital once they arrive. Doing so will be deemed illegal entry, the government said.

Source: China Daily

SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two Japanese tourists were killed and one remained missing after being trapped in a snow-covered mountain in north China's Hebei Province, local authorities said late Sunday night.

Two Japanese women, aged 62 and 68, were confirmed dead and a 76-year-old Japanese man remained missing, the Huailai county's publicity department said in a statement.

Another Japanese tourist, 59, and a Chinese man, who works for a Japanese tourist agency, were under treatment at a village clinic as roads out of the mountain were still closed.

The four Japanese tourists and two Chinese tourists climbed a mountain from the Beijing side to tour a section of the Great Wall Saturday morning.The six were trapped in snowstorms after reaching a mountainous region in Huailai county in the neighboring province of Hebei, according to the statement.

More than 150 people battled waist-deep snow to search for tourists after learning from a Chinese tourist who came down the mountain to seek police help.

Heavy snows hit many places in north China, including Beijing and Hebei, over the weekends.

Source: Xinhua News

China's most treasured tourist site in need of repair

Just how great is the Great Wall? People who visit the Great Wall at Badaling in Beijing often mistake it as the only section of the wall that is open to tourists, or even representative of the whole span of the Great Wall. However, this architectural wonder spreads over tens of thousands of kilometers through China's countryside.

Built over 2,000 years ago, the Great Wall was constructed by dozens of dynasties in history including the Warring Period (475BC-221BC), the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), the Tang Dynasty (618-907), until finally, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The wall stretches 21,196 kilometers and snakes through 403 counties in 15 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

Unlike the maintained Great Wall at Badaling in Beijing, the focus of most tourists, other sections of the wall have been corroding from the effects of nature and negligence.

Disappearing sections 

Getting to the Great Wall section at Changcheng town, Wuqi county in northwest Shaanxi Province is not easy. Lured by the idea that this area of the Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty and is the beginning of the Great Wall within Shaanxi Province, adventurous tourists often venture here. But after hours of climbing hills, most find themselves lost amidst massive plateaus, with the wall nowhere in sight.

"We have many travelers come, but we have to guide them through," said Feng Huoyu, a local official at the town of Changcheng. "Like today there were around 50 visitors," he told the Global Times.

As more research about the wild sections of the Great Wall is revealed, interest in these sites rise.

After four hours journeying from Wuqi county to the site, travelers were surprised when they finally saw the section of the Great Wall. It would have been difficult to spot, were it not for the big beacon tower. The majority of the wall had disappeared, after years of abandon. The exterior bricks and tiles outside the wall were eroded.

"There aren't any protection measures set, but there will be soon," said Feng. "Bureaus at the county and provincial levels will send experts over to repair, and our town government will patrol the wall, prohibiting damage from visitors."

Along the mountain road to Changcheng town, new roads were being built by heavy machinery. "Traffic here is not convenient. New roads are being built to facilitate locals and tourists. We are applying to develop this section of the Great Wall as an official scenic spot," Feng said.

Development dilemma

Whether or not to further develop sections of the Great Wall into scenic spots is a dilemma facing the government. Money generated from tourism could sustain its preservation. But if it is developed, these sites face human destruction. In 2003, part of the Great Wall at Hongyukou, Tangshan city in northern Hebei Province was destroyed in order to build a scenic area.

The Great Wall at Shahukou, in northern Shanxi Province was once a historical gateway in central China. It was developed as a scenic spot in 2003, with efforts from the local government. However, during construction, the original walls and mounds were replaced with modern brick walls. The sides, pass and arch were all recreated, disregarding historical accuracy.

"They disrupted the original," Luo Zhewen (1924-2012) a well-known Great Wall conservation expert, once stated to the public.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), many parts of the Great Wall were destroyed, in efforts of ridding the "four olds" (old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas).

After the movement ended, conservation efforts for the Great Wall began in the early 1980s. Enthusiasm for the field surged in the late 1980s.

"The massive destruction of the Great Wall caused by its (commercial) development started in the late 1980s," said Cheng Dalin, an expert on the protection of the Great Wall from the Chinese Academy of Cultural Relics, in an interview with Southern Weekly in May.

"Tourism aside, mining, road building and other industrial activities are destructive factors," Cheng said.

Shifting the tourism model

"The majority of the Great Wall is unprotected," said Duan Qingbo, vice president of School of Cultural Heritage in Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

"Keeping them from human destruction and starting regular repair projects on sections is what we can do for now," Duan told the Global Times.

"The government is currently cautious of turning sections of the Great Wall into scenic spots," he said. "Ticket revenues may not be as high as expected, and increased tourism destroys parts," Duan explained.

Most cultural relics hardly make money once they are scenic spots, except significant sites like the Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall at Badaling.

 "The fondness over turning cultural sites into money-making centers needs to change," said Duan. 

"Those cultural relics are far more significant in cultural and historic research, and we can't expect the tourism revenue to sustain their preservation," he added.

 Take the Great Wall as an example. It used to serve as a military defense against enemies, but it also represents Chinese civilization and cultural interactions between agricultural civilization and nomadic cultures, as well as the cultural conflicts within each of those cultures.

"The Qi Great Wall (in eastern Shandong Province) was built to separate different agricultural groups, and the Jin Great Wall (in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region) separated nomadic peoples," Duan said.

Another problem is the protection and preservation mechanism, according to Duan. "We don't have an institution specializing in the Great Wall, and there are few private organizations."

Source: Global Times

Hailed as the eighth wonder of the world, the Great Wall is a symbol of Chinese civilization and a source of National pride. The huge dragon shaped defence work has been shrouded in mystery for so long because it was such an impossible task for Chinese ancestors to build two thousand years ago. And it has witnessed so many wars and events over the course of Chinese history. To shed more light on the Chinese wonder, a documentary about the history and legends of the wall has just begun shooting.

The documentary feature produced by CCTV, called "Great Wall, China’s Story" has started shooting at Shanhaiguan, the east end of the ancient defence work. The production aims at discussing the Great Wall, from both the spacial and historical sphere. With the help of up-to-date video technology, and the latest results in academic research, a more real and thorough account of the Wall is expected to be presented to the audience. The documentary series is planned to have 12 episodes each with 50 minutes. It’s expected to be aired in 2014.

Source: CNTV

The Beijing municipal government will allow foreigners landing in Beijing but destined for other countries 72 hours to roam around the city without having to apply for a visa, in a move designed to promote the capital's tourism industry, Ding Xiangyang, the city's deputy mayor, said over the weekend.

Ding was quoted by the Beijing News as saying on Saturday that the visa-free entry policy will bring Beijing an increase in the number of visitors and tourism revenue.

Ding said the new regulation has just been approved but did not say when it would be put into practice or which countries will be covered.

Ding said around 5 million foreign tourists visit Beijing annually, and he expects the number to double over the next three years.

"Foreign tourists spend an average of 1,000 dollars, more than three times as much as domestic travelers," he noted.

The city government and the Beijing Tourism Development Committee could not be reached for comment Sunday.

The Beijing News reported that experts estimated that the policy will inject some 4 billion yuan ($633.42 million) into the capital's economy every year.

Currently, foreign travelers who are transiting through Beijing are allowed a maximum stay of 24 hours and are not allowed to leave the airport area. Shanghai has implemented 48-hour visa waiver for travelers in transit from some countries.

"I welcome this policy, but I think it won't increase the number of travelers as the time is too short. Seven days would be better," James Grant, a student from the UK, told the Global Times Sunday.

Wei Xiang, a professor of tourism management at Beijing International Studies University, told the Global Times Sunday that the policy will not only boost the city's tourism industry, but also improve foreign trade in the future as China still has relatively tight visa requirements.

"Many cities in the world, such as Tokyo, have a visa waiver program to attract more visitors, and it has achieved good results. With Beijing's many transiting passengers, the policy will attract more tourists and boost the local economy," Wei said.

The Beijing Morning Post reported that Beijing had considered last year allowing travelers to stay seven days without a visa.

"It will be a good thing for Beijing, but it will also pose some challenges. For example, if someone is engaged in business activities during their 72 hours in the city, will that be allowed?" said Wei.

Source: Global Times