Ecotourism in China

The Center for Chinese Studies presents a talk with Li Yanqin on the development of ecotourism (shengtai lüyou) in China.

Tourism in China has become an integral part of world tourism. According to estimates by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), by the year 2020 China will become the world’s largest host country and the fourth largest in terms of sending tourists abroad. Given these trends, ecotourism is sure to play an increasingly important role in assuring the sustainable development of the Chinese tourism. The year 1999 was designated as the “Chinese Year of Ecotourism.” A decade later, the China National Tourism Administration has once again named 2009 as the “China Year of Ecotourism,” indicating that the Chinese government is paying more attention to ecotourism (called shengtai lüyou in Chinese). But some critics charge that it is still too early to talk about real ecotourism in China. How has ecotourism been developed in China during the past ten years? How has ecotourism development been affected by Chinese culture, which is significantly different from western culture? Does shengtai luyou reflect the indigenization of ecotourism, or is it simply a cultural analogue of ecotourism? This presentation will introduce differences in ecotourism between China and the West in terms of cultural background, scale, destination, and the characteristics of the average ecotourist. It will also present some success stories in Chinese ecotourism.

About the Presenter

Li Yanqin, Ph.D., Associate professor at Minzu University of China, and visiting scholar at UHM

Please note: This talk will be delivered in Chinese, with slides and visuals in English.