Shanghai Expo 2010 (May 1st - Oct 31st, 2010)

Happy New Year, everybody!

At the beginning of a new decade, I’d like to put some new stuff on Chinablog.cc. The first thing I noticed is the sidebar poll — “Have you ever been to China?” It has been there since last April (yes, that’s pretty old). It’s definitely time to change it. Let’s look at the result first:

Have you ever been to China?

• Nope, I wish I can go someday. (40%, 45 Votes)
• Yep, and it's a great experience. (32%, 36 Votes)
• Aha, I was born in China! (19%, 21 Votes)
• No, I don't want to visit China! (6%, 7 Votes)
• Yes, but it was not so enjoyable. (3%, 3 Votes)

Total Voters: 112

Vote

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Honestly, the result is much better than I expected.

Of 109 total votes (as of 01/03/2009), only 9 votes (less than 10%) are negative: 3 voters say that they visited China but did not enjoy it; 6 voters say that they don’t want to visit China.

79 votes (72%) are positive: 35 voters say that they have been to China and enjoyed it. It suggests about a third of ChinaBlog.cc readers have been to China. Amazing! 44 voters say that they wish they can go someday. This is also very encouraging.

So, here is the new poll idea:

What’s Holding You Back from Traveling to China?

Right now, China is the world’s 4th most visited country by international tourist arrivals after France, USA, and Spain. With its fast growing tourism industry, more reciprocal deals with other countries, and exceptionally rich tourism resources, experts predict that China will become the 1st most visited country by international tourist arrivals by 2020.

So at this very moment,  What’s Holding You Back from Traveling to China?

I listed five options here:

1. Budget.

For people in Europe or Americas, China might be too far and expensive to go.

2. Language barrier.

Although Chinese kids are required to learn English since 1st grade (poor kids), majority of Chinese don’t speak English. It might be easy to find a young man to translate for you; and you might encounter hawkers who know how to talk about money in English, but overall, China is still a “Chinese” speaking country.

3. Undeveloped tourism industry.

Among Far East destinations, Japan and South Korea get pretty good amount of western tourists. They are not cheap and they don’t speak English either. But they are developed countries. For tourism industry, China still has a long way to go. Accommodation, transportation, park service, event organization, culture commercialization, etc. you name it!

4. Other negative impression about China.

IMHO, western media spend lots of efforts on China’s negative images, such as pollution, human rights, safety, etc. It’s not that bad in China, trust me. At least, we are better than Mexico, much better. 🙂

5. I am ready to go, just waiting for a better chance.

Well, if you fit into this category, maybe you should go this year. Start with Shanghai EXPO 2010. It will be on from May 1st to Oct 31 this year. You cannot find a better chance than this!

Here is the poll. Something else not listed above is the reason holding you back? You can leave a comment below and let me know.

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