3. Yunnan Makes Efforts to Boost Tourism Starting from scratch, tourism in Yunnan Province has made progress by leaps and bounds in the last decade. Only 1, 284 foreign tourists went there in 1978, the year when the provincial tourism bureau was established. The figure rose to 121, 300 in 1988 - an average annual increase of 25. 4 per cent, said deputy bureau chief Miao Kuihe in an interview .
In the provincial capital of Kunming alone, there are 11 posh hotels, with accommodations chiefly for foreign tourists, and nine travel agencies that provide services for them. There are also 10 arts and crafts stores in Kunming with a variety of articles with exotic flavours, including national costumes of the minorities. In such a short time, tourism has asserted its role in the socio-economic development of the province. In Kunming, tourism has provided jobs for 12, 000 people. In the whole province 25, 000 people work in tourist departments.
Tourism has helped to promote the catering trade, transportation service and commerce of Kunming. It has helped to accelerate the city construction and its embellishment. Moreover, contact with tourists from afar has widened the horizons of the locals, deputy director of the municipal tourism bureau Peng Shaoxi said. It has become a consensus of local authorities that tourism is a vanguard ndustry in opening the province to the outside world；it is of trategic importance in economic development, and it represents the orientation of urban construction. In 1988, the provincial government listed tourism as the sixth industry in.importance in economic development, said deputy bureau chief Miao.
Now, 29 of Yunnan's municipalities and counties are made open to foreigners, a fact favourable to tourism. Because of Yunnan' s abundant tourist resources, Miao envisions still brighter prospects for the tourism of the province. It is estimated that by 1995, Yunnan will receive about 200, 000 tourists annually and by 2000, their number will rise to 320, 000. Hotels by then should have accommodation for 10,000 people. To meet the needs of tourism, appropriate measures are being taken in various aspects, Miao said.
In April 1988, a centre was set up providing short-term professional training for three to five months for employees in tourist departments. All th'e big hotels have their own training section, aiming at improved service. Seven young employees have been sent to the United States to learn management expertise. Dozens of chefs are in Hong Kong to learn various styles of cuisine. And some young employees are sent to college to learn foreign languages as well as professional skills in tourism, Miao said.
4. Advantages of Yunnan to Develop Tourism According to the publicity chief of the provincial tourism bureau, Chen Keqin, on the strength of its distinctive geographic and ethnic features, Yunnan has the following advantages for the development of tourism ：A good number of scenic wonders. They are roughly located in three areas. First, those in the area centring around Kunming, of which the Stone Forest is one. The spectacular, jagged rocky formations that rear their heads to the skies are winning world fame. There are also karst caves in this area.
Second, those in west Yunnan with the two ancient cities Dali and I.ijiang. The Tiger-leaping Gorge of the Jinsha River deserves a mention. It is 16 kilome；res long. The narrowest section of it is about 30 metres wide, which, legend claims, tigers once leapt across. Form the surface of the river to the top of the precipitous mountains on the two sides, the height is 3,900 metres. Within the 16-kilometre length of the gorge, there are 18 risky rapids and in so short a distance, the drop of the water is 210 metres, averaging 14 metres for each kilometre.The gorge resounds with the roaring and dashing of huge waves of the racing water.
Third, Xishuangbanna Prefecture in south Yunnan. With its lush tropical forests, the area has many fascinating features, in both natural scenery and cultural life. Genial climate, with all the year mild and springlike. The average annual temperature is 19.3 degrees Centigrade. As a result, the province is a “kingdom of fauna and flora”, with a variety of rare animals and birds, such as elephants, snub-nosed monkeys and peacocks, and tens of thousands of varieties of plants. Rich local or special products. They include fine tobacco, tea, ham, medicinal herbs, marble handicraft articles and the Yunnan baiyao, a medicine for haemorrhaging and wounds.
Folk customs. Inhabited by 24 minorities, Yunnan has many national folk customs, festivals, traditions, dances, costumes and houses that are of great interest. For instance, the water splashing festival in April, with dragon boat regatta, of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna and the torch festival in July, of a few minorities including the Yis, Bais and Sanis, are two of the most famous annual celebrations.
With such a variety of things to see in Yunnan, tourist parties with special. purposes have been organized. For instance, there are parties to see the azalea looms of all types in various places： mountain climbing； the folk customs of the norities； or walking tours through scenic routes. However, according to the deputy director of Kunming tourism bureau, Peng Shaoxi, there are hindrances to Yunnan's tqurism.
Woefully inadequate transportation facilities. Foreign tourists often find it hard to get into Yunnan, while those who are leaving are often stranded at Kunming's airport for lack of flights.It often takes 10 days to finish a trip in Xishuangbanna, too long for most tourists.
5. Good Impression about China Editor：Last May, my wife and I visited Beijing, the capital of your beautiful country, and attended the Fourth World Conference on Continuing Engineering Education. We received a warm welcome everywhere we went. Combining business and pleasure, we visited many areas of the city and met quite a few citizens. from all walks of life. From our visit, we know that China is a great country； we know that the Chinese people are warm and friendly； we know that Beijing is much safer than most American cities. We have told all our friends about our wonderful experiences. In a few years, we hope to return to China and teach for a semester.
Unfortunately, the American people do not see your country as we did. Our television media does not convey the warm hospitality of the people. Our newspapers do not report the steady modernization of the past 10 years, nor do they mention the continuing increase in the standard of living. Sad to say, the American public thinks of China as it was 40 years ago. The solution to my country,s mistaken impressions about China is simple, but it will take time： continue our open door relations； continue our economic trade； most especially, encourage Americans to visit China and experience her friendship and charm！
Christopher J.Smith Westville USA 6. Fond Memories of a Trip to India At least twice I thought about giving up my trip to attend a conference on counseling in India last month. The first time was when it seemed I could never, ever get my visa to India. The second time was after I had the visa and went fo buy my plane ticket. There I learned the ticket I had booked was not available because of a computer error. But I persevered and I am glad, because the trip turned out to be nice although it was too short for me to see much of lndia.
From the moment we landed at Bombay airport, we three women from Beijing were surrounded by the differences in language, people, food, scenes and even traffic-one drives on the right side of the road in China but on the left side in India. It was a completely strange place, but I felt easy and safe. The Indians we met were so friendly that when each of the participants to the conference was invited to say one thing about the meeting, I said, “I am glad to have this chance to know you beautiful Indian women and hand'some Indian men.”
I would not forget the guard at the exit of the international airport in Bombay who kindly insisted that we wait in seats usually reserved for the guards because the people who were supposed to meet us failed to show up as expected. And when I wanted to make a phone call to get somebody to pick us up and could get no coins anywhere, another guard took me to a phone reserved for airport staff .
It could be a very frustrating experience to miss one's flight and arrive at the destination eight hours later than planried, which is what happened to us after the conference. But it turned out somehow not as frustrating as it might have been. We were at the Coimbatore airport on our way back to Bombay after the conference, and we were to leave for home from Bombay the next evening.
We were told that we could not take the 10 a. m. flight as we had planned because our tickets had not been confirmed properly and there were no seats available. But we were told that we could be in Bombay that evening if we took a flight to a nearby airport in Bangalore and go from there to Bombay. We were killing time by measuring the airport's modest waiting room when an airport officer stopped in front of us, introduced himself as the officer on duty at the airport, and assured us that there would be no problem, that things would be straightened out for us, and everything would be all right. In, half an hour we had our new tickets in our hands.
Yet, before long, we were called to the ticket counter and informed that we would not be able to catch our connection flight at the Bangalore airport because the flight from Coimbatore would be one hoor late. And we would have to take the next flight leaving Bangalore and arriving in Bombay at 8 p.m. One hour later, wben I was thinking how unlucky we were that day, we were lining up for the security check. A young woman in airport uniform approached us and said, “We are so sorry that we failed to arrange your morning flight. We did try, but……”
You don't hear such words very often when you are upset by travel problems in China, even when you are the victims of the travel service's mistakes. Her words swept away my bitter feelings at having to spenci. the whole day at airports while we might have been exploring Bombay for the afternoon. And that was one of the several moments when I could not help but fall in love with the Indian people.
I fell in love with them earlier when a taxi driver, a quiet old man, followed me and gave me his drinking water to wash my mouth when I got sick halfway to the conference place. I fell in love with them when the children at the school close to the conference building passed by and greeted us with “hello” and “morning” with smiles and a little shyness.
I fell in love with them when the college students in Bombay, sitting on steps at the gate, waved to us cheerfully across the street. Yes, I would love to visit India again. I want to see the protected forests and the flowers blooming everywhere and the eharming, elegant women in colourful Saris again, and of course, the India Airlines staff members, too.
And I want to see no beggars along the streets, no slums alongside the beautiful beach in Bombay, no school-age boys serving at the tables in restaurants, to hear no new stories about young wives who are burnt to death because the dowry from their parents failed to satisfy the husbands' families. And I hope India will see more Chinese visitors in the near future and China see more Indian visitors, too.