One of China's most popular scenic cities, Guilin hosted more than 1.88 million tourists in the first three months of this year, according to local sources.

They said that 181,000 overseas tourists visited Guilin from January to March, up 21.23 percent from the same period of last year.

Tourists from Taiwan totaled 94,600, up 35.14 percent. Guilin also reported drastic increases in the numbers of tourists from other major overseas sources of tourism, such as the Republic of Korea, the United States and France.

Zhong Xinmin, head of the Tourism Bureau of Guilin City, attributed the steady growth in the number of overseas tourists to the city's efforts to improve its tourism environment.

According to him, overseas tourists will enjoy preferential treatment in a range of aspects, including the prices of tickets to major scenic spots in Guilin.

In the meantime, the opening of Guilin-Macao-Taipei, Guilin- Fukuoka, Guilin-Seoul, Guilin-Bangkok air routes make trips to this southern Chinese city more convenient. The development of new tourist sites has helped to enhance Guilin's appeal to tourists, said Zhong.

He added that the city will launch two more international air routes and open an international train service from Guilin to Hanoi, capital of Vietnam,to attract more overseas tourists to Guilin.

(People’s Daily 04/30/2001)