Scenic areas face criticism for blocking views, experts call for quality tourism
Scenic spots in China have come under fire for blocking views with walls and wire mesh, which is seen as a short-sighted approach in monetizing resources.
The exposure of local authorities enclosing the Qinghai Lake with wire mesh in June to charge tourists for admission fees resulted in a large number of social media users complaining about how unsightly the wire mesh looks and how it might discourage tourists from visiting the lake.
The mesh wire around the Qinghai Lake.
Similar reports have also surfaced about other popular domestic tourist attractions like the Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, and the Meri Snow Mountain in Yunnan Province, where walls have been erected to obstruct the view of unpaid visitors.
A tour vlogger posted a video in May saying walls have been erected along the 214 national highway, blocking people from seeing inside Meri Snow Mountain Park.
The view of the Meri Snow Mountain compares with what's outside the walls.
If people wish to see the snow mountain, they have to pay to get access to the sightseeing platform on the highway, the vlogger said in a video.
The Meri Snow Mountain used to be visible at a distance; now, it's just disappointing to see endless walls.
The park also forbids tourists from flying drones, which gives rise to more complaints from people who plan to visit the area's sights.
AB&B-style hotel owners have also revealed that many of their customers are unhappy with the park enclosing its attraction with walls, which is not good for business.
Only when the park gets a good reputation will more tourists return, the owner told CCTV.com.
During the May Day holiday, the Hukou Waterfall of Yellow River also drew criticism for building walls that stopped passers-by from seeing into the scenic area.
The waterfall can be seen both from Shaanxi and Shanxi Province, however, walls were erected on the roads of both sides, making it impossible for drivers to see the waterfall.
Many people doubted if the company managing the waterfall scenic area has justifiable reason for building the walls.
The walls block passers-by from seeing the Hukou Waterfall of Yellow River.
An aerial view of the waterfall.
Local Culture and Tourism Bureau responded that the walls were built to keep tourists and drivers safe, as there had been incidents of rock falling from the nearby mountain, endangering people who parked their cars on the road and lingered there.
However, people are not convinced and asked why the walls just so happened to block the view of the waterfall area and not road sections where there isn't anything to see.
The management bureau of the scenic area responded that they would consider the public's criticisms and enhance their safety management by boosting their service quality.
A Weibo.com user uploaded a video on July 1st, showing the authorities have dismantled the walls blocking the view of the Hukou Waterfall.
Video clip shows the walls have been dismantled.
Some attractions charge people for only passing by
Another travel vlogger said that when he was driving through the Zhagana Scenic Area in Gansu Province, a staff member told him that he needed to pay for the admission fee, even though he was just passing through the scenic area.
The vlogger was told that if he was able to drive through the whole section of 40 kilometers of the scenic area in 1-and-a-half hour, meaning he does not have time to get a peep of the scenery, then he will get a refund.
Same fee is also charged at other scenic areas such as the Lugu Lake in Sichuan Province, and the Leaping Gorge Scenic Spot in Yunnan Province.
The managing company of the Leaping Gorge scenic spot told CCTV.com that if people only need to pass by the area of the some 20 kilometers of the road within the area and within 30 minutes, they won't be charged with the admission fee.
Short-sighted practice may harm tourism industry
According to a commentary by Xinhua.com, the practice of building walls to stop people from seeing inside scenic areas is short-sighted and may harm the tourism industry in the long run.
From the perspective of scenic spot management companies, admission fees are one of their most important revenue sources, making it challenging to avoid building walls, especially for less developed places.
However, some cities and regions are considering lessening their dependence on the admission fee economy.
Wang Xiaoyu, an expert with the World Tourism Cities Federation, argued that the view-blocking walls are a result of a lagged mindset of utilizing administrative resources and short-sighted monetization of resources.
He added that developing multifaceted tourism products with a focus on quality and experience is crucial for the development of China's tourism industry.
Scenic areas with beautiful scenery should make themselves examples of quality tourism product providers and use their quality service and infrastructure to serve tourists and expand their tourism industry chain, Xinhua said.
