Chairman Mao Zedong once said, "He who doesn't reach the Great Wall is not a true man." These days this maxim is often paired with a modern corollary: "Foreign visitors who haven't climbed the Great Wall haven't really been to China". Ask most potential visitors what they'd most like to see in China and the chances are their top pick will be this ancient and spectacular feat of civil engineering.

Every year thousands of visitors from all over the world clamber along the tourist sanctioned sections of the wall, pausing afterwards to buy souvenirs and slurp noodles from the ubiquitous stalls. The most popular sections of the wall are well within 100 km of Beijing, so you might expect getting there to be a breeze. But in fact visiting China's most famous attraction is still a trying introduction to tourism Chinese style for many travelers.

Unless visitors are willing to pay the exorbitant fees charged by tourist bus operators to be herded around like sheep or hire an equally expensive private car and driver, the options for getting to the wall are slim. Cheap public buses run to various wall sections but they're difficult to find, lack comprehensive timetables and foreign language information and generally tend to feel like a risky proposition to non-Chinese speakers.

The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) reports visitors to China's mainland who stayed at least one night last year reached almost 42 million, while foreign exchange tourism receipts for 2004 jumped to a massive US$25.7 billion. Recovering swiftly from a marked drop in visitor numbers during the 2003 SARS outbreak, China has now elbowed longstanding tourist hotspot Italy aside to rank fourth in the world for overnight tourist numbers.

Even more startlingly, China is expected to welcome 64 million foreign tourists in 2010, and a decade later will become the world's most visited tourist destination, according to a recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council.

All this is good news indeed for the coffers of local travel and hospitality industry operators. Good news too for the millions of Chinese who will benefit economically from increased tourism, not to mention the government tax department.

The rise in inbound visitor numbers is mirrored by a skyrocketing number of Chinese traveling overseas to a growing range of destinations. Unfortunately, the high-grade tourist facilities enjoyed by Chinese in other countries are still a distant dream for visitors to most parts of China. The ongoing rapid escalation in visitor numbers to China urgently needs to be matched by a swift and thorough development of tourist facilities.

Even in the sprawling capital of Beijing, there are no tourist information centers providing comprehensive multilingual information about the city. At popular destinations overseas, bustling tourist information centers conveniently located next to many major attractions provide a wealth of useful free material for disorientated visitors. But accurate maps of Beijing in multiple languages are still only available in specialist guidebooks bought overseas. Meanwhile, good luck finding your way around with the outdated and often imprecise maps sold by street vendors with their irksome cries of "Looka look, Beijing map for you!"
An estimated seven million people pass through the gates of the Forbidden City every year so you'd think the nearby subway entrance to be well sign posted. It's not, but neither is any other subway in the city. Subway entrances are identifiable by their blue and white logo, but there are few signs pointing the way there. I've often walked around in circles, knowing there is a subway station nearby but unaware of its exact location thanks to my vague map. The same half endearing and half infuriating Chinglish-ridden map that mysteriously describes the subway lines currently under construction as 'in operation'.

The level of information available inside the elusive subway stations is no better underground than over ground. The outdated ticket vending system means travelers must elbow their way through jostling queue jumpers to buy tickets from the grim faced counter staff. All ticket information is only in Chinese, and many first timers struggle with pronunciation of their destinations until after a couple of trips they realize any ride on the two lines costs 3RMB.

A bargain by any standards, and the buses are even cheaper. But for those who can't read Chinese, taking a bus is a lucky dip at best. The same applies to foreigners who are game enough to attempt a long distance train ride outside the city. Very limited printed foreign language information and an apparent total lack of foreign language speaking railway staff mean a formidable battle to buy the right tickets for many visitors.

Of course it's impractical to suggest that every worker involved in the tourism industry should speak several foreign languages fluently. But at subway, bus and train stations most used by visitors surely it's possible to have one counter where a staff member can give basic explanations and assistance in English - the most universally understood language.

With the Olympics looming ever closer, there is much talk about efforts to improve and ease the difficulties and frustrations faced by travelers to China. But sometimes it's the simplest things that can make the biggest difference. Large, highly visible tourist information boards strategically placed in popular tourist areas with clear directions to nearby attractions would be a good start. So would more translations of basic information at popular sightseeing spots.

The environmental and social issues surrounding the extremely fast development of semi-isolated rural beauty spots into tourist Meccas and the hasty construction of numerous hotels nationwide are already receiving a good deal of attention. Tourism officials and strategic planners now need to take a close look at the micro picture of tourism in China and consider how to improve visitors' day-to-day experiences.