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a domestic tourism option for now, as very
few Westerners are adventurous enough
to hire a car and drive in China (none of the
signs are in English outside major cities, for
a start; then there’s the Chinese driving…).
The food is very much authentic local fare
for Chinese tastes, so again the target
market is clearly domestic at present and
changes would probably have to be made
to attract a more international clientele –
especially Europeans.
This is an area for quiet relaxation, enjoying
nature, and walking through the forests.
The B& B we saw had a swimming pool fed
by a mountain stream – which looked
bracingly cold, even in June (the sign
warned “Lower water temperature”).
The high-quality B&Bs we saw on our trip
showed how seriously China is taking
developing capacity for domestic tourism
for its fast-expanding affluent middle classes.
B&Bs are so far a niche product, and may
remain so for some time, but even a small
percentage of such a vast and booming
marketplace in a country of a billion
people makes a big business.
We were privileged to have seen the early
stages of the country’s development of a high
quality B&B sector, and delighted that they
have wanted to learn what they can from the
British B&B sector, which as they acknowledged
at the Shanghai B&B Conference (see page 7),
was where it all started.