Shaolin Temple (少林寺), the famed temple in Henan province where kung fu is said to have been invented, is going into the temple management business, starting in Kunming.

The temple's abbot Shi Yongxin (释永信) signed an agreement earlier this week with Kunming's Guandu district to take over management of four ancient temples in Kunming: Miaozhan Temple (妙湛寺), Tuwang Temple (土主庙), Fading Temple (法定寺), and Guangyin Temple (观音寺).

According to Kunming media reports, this new 'Yunnan Shaolin' is expected to serve as a platform through which the temple will transmit 'Shaolin Culture' to South and Southeast Asia. Ten monks from Shaolin Temple will be dispatched to the four Kunming temples, where they will manage business with the goal of attracting tourists.

The reported terms of the 20-year agreement between Shaolin Temple and the Guandu district are for Shaolin to take over management of the four Kunming temples in exchange for all the profits generated by the temples via ticket sales, sales of religious paraphernalia, religious texts and any donations made by visitors.

Eric Mu at Danwei explains that Shaolin's Shi is facing growing criticism for his business-oriented approach to running the temple.



Image: neuwied-musik.de

Tags: business, gong fu, Guandu district, kung fu, martial arts, Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, tourism, 释永信

Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) asked India to open a consulate in Kunming during a meeting with Indian Tourism Minister Ambika Soni in New Delhi last week, according to Indian media reports.

Direct flights between Kunming and Kolkata, capital of eastern India's West Bengal state, were launched in late 2007, but visa regulations and lack of a Kunming consulate make it difficult for Chinese living in southwestern China to visit India.

In order to obtain a visa, applicants must go to India's embassy in Beijing or its consulates in Shanghai and Hong Kong. For people living in Yunnan, it's often easier to skip the Kunming-Kolkata flight and fly to nearby Bangkok where there is an Indian embassy and more flight options to India.

While meeting with Qin and a delegation of Yunnan officials and entrepreneurs last Wednesday, Soni invited the visitors from Yunnan to invest in India's tourist infrastructure and called for closer cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit, the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the West Bengal Tourism Directorate, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation and Travel Agents Association of India Eastern Chapter to "build a mutual bond on tourism practices, exchange and understanding."

Indian tourist visits to China are roughly quadruple the number of Chinese visits to India.

Tags: Beijing, Hong Kong, India, Kolkata, Qin Guangrong, Shanghai, tourism, travel, visas, West Bengal

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has given China Eastern Airlines permission to reopen its previously suspended Kunming-Dali and Kunming-Jinghong routes, half a year after stripping the Shanghai-based airline of the routes because of mid-air protests by several of its Yunnan subsidiary's pilots.

In March of this year, China Eastern pilots are reported to have deliberately turned back midway through their provincial flights out of Kunming as a form of protest over dissatisfaction with strict lifetime contracts and low pay.

The airline quickly fired its Yunnan management, but that was not enough to prevent regulators at CAAC from discontinuing its Kunming-Dali and Kunming-Jinghong routes on May 4 and reducing feeder routes from Kunming to Lijiang, Shangri-la, Mangshi, Lincang, Pu'er and Wenshan by 20 flights daily, on April 26.

CAAC said that it had restored the routes plus increased the frequency of other China Eastern routes in Yunnan as a result of the airline's 'impressive contribution to Sichuan earthquake relief and rescue efforts', according to aviation trade publication ATW Daily News.

Analysts say the restoration of the routes may not help offset the estimated loss of 405 million yuan (US$59 million) in revenue from the route suspensions, as Chinese domestic tourism has been slumping since the Wenchuan earthquake in May.

Related articles:

China Eastern loses Xishuangbanna, Dali routes

China Eastern fires Yunnan management over pilot demonstration

China Eastern officials, pilots meet after Kunming protest

Tags: CAAC, China Eastern Airlines, Dali, Jinghong, Lijiang, Lincang, Mangshi, Pu'er, Shangri-la, tourism, travel, Wenchuan earthquake, Wenshan

Malaysia has called for a clear timetable for the completion of the rail network that will link Kunming with Singapore, a project that has been ongoing since 1994.

Yesterday Malaysian Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat told the rail network's 10th Special Working Group Meeting in Putrajaya, according to Malaysian media reports.

The 5,382 kilometer (3,344 mile) rail network will connect Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam with Kunming and other cities in Yunnan. The main obstacle to getting the network up and running is the existence of around 550 kilometers of gaps between rail lines around the region. According to Ong:


Ong said that despite concerns about rising costs of construction materials, Malaysia was not going to pressure poorer countries in the region – ie Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – to meet the generally hoped-for completion target of 2015, although Malaysia's last gaps will be filled before then.


Once completed, the rail network is expected to greatly boost regional trade and tourism as well as contributing to poverty reduction in poorer areas throughout the region. It will also bolster Kunming's position as the primary Chinese logistics hub for trade with Southeast Asian countries.

Tags: Cambodia, Laos, logistics, Malaysia, Myanmar, Ong Tee Keat, Putrajaya, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Thailand, tourism, trade, trains, transportation, Vietnam

Attacks on non-local tour buses by angry tour bus drivers in Jinghong in southern Yunnan have resulted in some Chinese travel agencies suspending tour services to the popular travel destination, according to Chinese media reports.

Some tour bus drivers have turned violent in response to the government's decision to break the monopoly held by local tour bus operators over Xishuangbanna prefecture. Shanghai Daily reports:



Last Friday local bus drivers reportedly staged a sit-in protest in front of government offices in Jinghong, the prefecture's capital.

Some tour operators in Shanghai such as Spring International Travel service and Jinjiang International Travel have suspended tour group services, while government owned China Youth Travel Service says the attacks were "isolated" and that it will continue to send tourists to Xishuangbanna.

Tags: buses, Jinghong, tourism, travel, Xishuangbanna

Rail services between Kunming and Chengdu resumed on Friday, two weeks after being severed by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that killed 40 and damaged or destroyed more than 900,000 homes in southern Sichuan and northern Yunnan provinces.

A passenger train carrying more than 1,000 passengers departed Kunming on Friday afternoon, relaunching rail traffic between the two provincial capitals just in time for Mid-Autumn festival.

The 18- to 23-hour trip is one of the most tunnel-ridden sections of rail in China.

Related article: Earthquake rattles Sichuan, Yunnan provinces

Tags: Chengdu, disasters, earthquake, Mid-Autumn Festival, Panzhihua, rail, Sichuan, tourism, transport

Yesterday at the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Industry Development Conference in Chuxiong it was announced that 11 mainland and Hong Kong companies will invest more than 90 billion yuan (US$13.1 billion) in Yunnan's tourism industry.

The group of eleven is led by HK-listed Shui On Land (瑞安房地产), best known for being developers of the Xintiandi and Corporate Avenue project in Shanghai. Total investment by Shui On Land in Yunnan this year is expected to reach 48 billion, more than the other 10 companies combined.

In December 2007, Shui On signed a cooperation agreement with the provincial government – today it is working on four major projects in Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Diqing.

Smart Hero Group (骏豪集团), another Hong Kong developer, will invest more than 25 billion yuan in the city of Chengjiang, 70 kilometers southeast of Kunming. The project, located at the Sun Mountain International Ecological Tourism and Leisure Holdiday Area, will commence construction in September. Smart Hero has existing tourism and hospitality projects in the cities of Xiamen, Sanya and Chongqing.

Smart Hero's investment in Chengjiang is indicative of a larger trend in Yunnan – in addition to established tourist cities such as Kunming, Lijiang, Dali and Shangri-la, smaller cities and lesser-known areas in Yunnan are beginning to attract larger amounts of investment. Other examples include Pu'er and Yangzonghai.

Related article:

Property giant Shui On moving into Yunnan

Tags: Chengjiang, Chuxiong, Dali, Diqing, Lijiang, Shangri-la, Shui On Land, Smart Hero Group, tourism, travel, Xintiandi

A drop in foreign tourism looms over Dali's economy

As China prepares for the Beijing Olympics on August 8, it is becoming obvious in cities from Beijing and Shanghai to Dali and Lijiang and elsewhere around the country that international travel to China has dropped off considerably.

According to a recent New York Times article, which noted a 14 percent drop in foreign tourist visits to Beijing in May:

"With the Beijing Olympics less than two months away, hotel operators, travel agencies, and foreign businessmen say new Chinese visa restrictions are proving bad for business, casting a pall over Beijing during what was supposed to be a busy and jubilant tourist season leading up to the Olympic Games."

Beijing and Shanghai, two of the most popular business and leisure travel destinations in China, are not the only cities wondering where the foreigners went and when they'll come back. The international trade mecca of Yiwu in Zhejiang province is profiled in a Los Angeles Times story with a similar theme – businesses that rely on foreigners coming to China are struggling.

One year ago, there was much speculation among the hotels, restaurants and bars of Kunming, Lijiang and Dali that the runup to the Olympics plus the several weeks after the games would provide a small windfall for the businesses that played their cards right. Today, most businesspeople's high hopes have been dampened.

Last week on a trip to Dali, GoKunming spoke with tour operators and owners of guesthouses and restaurants. There was little need to ask people how business was – normally June is a big month for foreign tourist visits to Dali's old city, but instead of the throngs of backpackers and package tourists that typically fill the city's narrow streets, there were very few foreigners to be found.

One guesthouse owner surnamed He said that her guesthouse and hotel had both experienced a major drop in foreign bookings this year.

"We're willing to help with the paperwork to help people get their China visas, but many people are deciding it's not worth the hassle – they're just skipping China this year," she said. "To make matters worse, a lot of people think that Dali and Yunnan are unsafe because of their relative proximity to the Wenchuan earthquake… they don't know we're actually quite far from the disaster zone."

One small business owner surnamed Liu said that recent business at his bar and guesthouse was noticeably slower than usual this year, he did not speculate on the reasons why.

"There's not so many foreigner tourists here right now – it's definitely strange," Liu said, "It's a bit of a conundrum because although the city is a lot quieter and more pleasant than it usually is at this time, everyone's having a tough time making money."

Although Kunming seems increasingly unlikely to benefit from any previously hoped-for Olympic travel boom, the old towns of Dali and Lijiang are likely to be on the receiving end of an Olympic exodus. There are already many Beijing residents relaxing in both ancient cities at the moment, many of whom told GoKunming that they and or their friends will return to Yunnan to avoid from the chaos of the Olympics.

"I have a lot of friends in Beijing that will come down here to chill out during the Olympics," a young woman surnamed Wang said.

"I'm from Qingdao – we're only hosting the sailing events but there are still some people I know there who will be coming down here to get away from everything."

Related article:

China tightens visa policy in runup to Olympics

Tags: Dali, Lijiang, Olympics, tourism, visas