Fujian and tourism in China

A brisk 3 day trip (it should have been 4, but a typhoon warning cancelled all trains for a day) to Fujian last month with my mum brings up some of the typical issues in tourism nowadays in China which is quite interesting to share.

Fujian is the province on Mainland China opposite Taiwan. It's capital, Xiamen is a large and bustling city with a small island no more than a mile or so long and half a mile wide. A century or so ago, when the Western Countries forced China to cede some territory in key cities that could be used for the Western Countries to establish trading posts, this island was one of them and it remains full of grand colonial mansions. It is car-free, leafy, hilly and pleasant. It is also known for its pianos as all the mansions used to have them. We didn't stay on the island, but in the main city, finding a nice airbnb place that was particularly kid friendly (since with 3 adults and 2 kids its better having an apartment than a hotel).

I first visited the area a decade or so ago and found it fairly busy, but away from the little port with dumpy tourist shops it was quiet and pleasant, with some nice little beaches too. Many of the mansions were run-down, which was part of the charm of the island. Now they have built an extra two ports on the island to handle the large number of (mostly domestic) tourists! Yet most of the shops are now more upmarket and trendy; many of the mansions have been restored, which is nice, and some turned into nicer shops, restaurants or hotels. I had feared the worst, but it was better than I had expected. On the whole it's not been too badly managed, although the beaches are unfortunately not particularly pleasant with driftwood and rubbish floating around since the seas around Xiamen are very busy trade routes.

Outside of Xiamen, previously a 3 hour bus ride away, but now only a 1 hour fast train ride away, in the hills are where the Hakka people live--or at least used to live. Trying to keep safe in the face of persecution from other groups of Chinese, they had fled to the hills and built the massive buildings which are almost fortresses. An entire village in one circular building (though some are also square or other shapes) where literally hundreds of people lived (the largest had 600 people living inside it and more than 200 rooms across 4 or 5 floors). The oldest were built seven hundred years ago but the most recent ones were built only 50 years ago. In fact they were designed with kitchens on the ground floor, bedrooms on the first and second floors, and grain storage on the third floor. Each had several wells, and in the middle of the buildings would be the toilets and wash areas as well as barns for the animals. They are truly unique with just a couple hundred of these buildings remaining and nowhere else in the world.

Returning to this area, again a decade later, and apart from the high-speed train, not a lot more has changed. There is some accommodation available inside these incredible buildings (known as "tulou" or "earth building") but not too much, partly due to the high cost of converting these buildings to be suitable for tourists to stay in (e.g. on-suite bathrooms etc), partly due to the dispersed ownership (each family only owns one room in each building), and partly due to the lack of interest from tourists in staying there (Chinese like their mad-dash tours where they do as much as possible in a short time and thus would just come visit for the day from Xiamen; they also like the more typical modern Hotel). It is a shame that more people do not stay overnight and experience living in these buildings, but they are a real highlight of China and thankfully being fairly well managed. I can recommend staying in the Fuyulou Changdi building.

There are fairly high entrance fees to see some of the buildings where the money is split between the local government, the local village committee and the building owners themselves which seems to work well and provides some funds for renovation and restoration. Of course many people have moved out to live in the cities so many of the buildings are sparsely populated compared to their peak period but there are farmers still living there and others looking to make money from tourists, selling tea or other souvenirs and local products. The Chinese do love their local agricultural products, and you'll often see them bringing entire boxes of apples or something or other with them on planes.

There is still not much interest in exploring the countryside, at least in this area; and China generally still hasn't found much interesting in hiking or trekking or exploring (though of course there are exceptions in some locations and with a growing domestic youth backpacker movement). It is mostly a tour bus or drive-by-car culture; take the photos; buy the souvenirs; get an introduction by the tour guide; move onto the next place.

With so many high speed trains now all over the place, it is much quicker and easier to get around; with so many places using wechat or alipay (a mobile phone based payment system), you don't need cash or cash machines any more. You have to beware the over-priced souvenirs and food, but you can find more local products to buy if you look, whilst carefully avoiding all the selfie sticks of course (it seems most phones don't even get taken out of the selfie stick any more!).

On the whole then, tourism in China is being managed fairly well. and that is nice to see.... it is not easy balancing gigantic numbers of people with cultural preservation. providing a real experience and supporting local jobs, but I think China has learned fast and has made much progress compared to the past. Although the tourists' habits have not changed as much (though fewer tour buses now and more Audis), they seem to be slightly better behaved!