The Korean connection
Traditionally, the majestic mountains of Zhangjiajie have been a place of pilgrimage for Korean tourists. According to mainstream Korean cultural beliefs, a person should visit the scenic spot before they die, and good children should send their parents there.
"We think it's the most beautiful place in the world," says Korean Young Jin Kim, while sitting in his seat on a tour bus returning from Yuanjiajie.
Young had five days' vacation from work and decided to spend them touring the park.
"It's the place where God lives; this god is immortal and lives in the highest place in the mountain," he says.
For Piao Yingji, of Heilongjiang Province, the influx of Koreans to Zhangjiajie offered a big business opportunity. Since she had lived near the border of Korea all of her life and could speak the language, she decided to become a vendor in the city in 2003.
"Business is good," she says amid swarms of Korean tour group members digging through her merchandise. "I was a farmer before, and now I make much more money."
Her kiosk is set up in front of a pavilion in Yuanjiajie near The No 1 Bridge On Earth, where visiting Koreans would leave their business cards. The cards line the walls and ceiling of her shop like tiling, and rows of lanterns hanging from umbrellas above the seating areas in front of her stall are also covered with them.
Yang Yuehua, a travel agent with China Zhangjiajie Guanjun International Travel Service Co Ltd, says his firm has 400 tour guides, half of whom are trained to accommodate the more than 50,000 Korean guests they serve every year.
"The number of Korean tourists increases year by year, day by day, little by little, step by step," he says.
Director of the Tourism Bureau of Zhangjiajie Ding Yunyong believes that part of the reason that so many Koreans come to Zhangjiajie is that the local culture is similar to that of Korea.
In addition, the counties' governments and travel agencies have established relationships. The city also caters to Korean guests, providing Korean-language information and offering about 30 eateries that serve Korean cuisine, he says.
Kang Myung Soo, of Seoul, says that he came to Zhangjiajie last week because he realized he just wasn't getting any younger.
"I'm 73-years-old, so I had to come here now, because I might not be able to later," he says, gripping his cane with a smile.
(China Daily 10/17/2007 page22)
