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Naycations / Beijing Olympics / Travel News / → All Tags

Despite Olympics, China Tourism Down In '08

That was an expensive party: China's National Tourism Administration reported over the weekend that foreign visits to China dropped in 2008 for the first time in five years--despite the free publicity generated by the Beijing Summer Olympics.

Some 130 million visitors made tracks to China in '08, 2 million fewer than '07 and a huge disappointment for a host country that put on the most expensive games ever (at an estimated cost of $42 billion). Nearly all sectors of the travel industry suffered: Beijing hotels were actually emptier in the two weeks of the Games than they were over the same period in 2007, and Chinese airlines, despite cutting flights to Beijing in 2007, lost over a billion dollars.

The Tourism Administration pointed out in an interview with China Daily that nearly every destination shed visitors in 2008 due to the global economic crisis. Rising prices, more stringent visa requirements and the Sichuan earthquake were also cited as factors in an Associated Press report. In response to the slump, tourism officials plan to launch a campaign encouraging more domestic travel and urging Chinese employers to dole out paid vacations so citizens will have the money and time to sightsee.

Is it even worth it to host the Olympics anymore? Upcoming hosts Vancouver and London must feel a little queasy right now.

Related Stories:
· Fewer Visits to China Last Year Despite Olympics [AP, via Yahoo!]
· China's Iron Olympic Grip Starts to Slip [UK Times]
· Slowdown Forecast for China's Tourism Industry [China Daily]
· We Still Think 2008's Destination of the Year Was China [Jaunted]
· Post-Olympics Travel: China's (Short-Lived) Afterglow [Jaunted]

[Photo: sockeyed]

Olympics / Beijing Olympics / Olympics 2008 / China Travel / → All Tags

Post-Olympics Travel: China's Afterglow

The Olympics paid off in more ways than one for China. Sure, the country got awesome new hotels, venues and infrastructure built, but now, post-games, the country's also experiencing a boom in tourism. The New York Times reports that travelers want to experience for themselves what their favorite Olympians did--and tour groups are seeing bookings jump as much as 20 percent.

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Michael Phelps / Tourism Boards / Olympics / Beijing Olympics / → All Tags

Foxy Swimmer Travel: "Phelpstival" Finally Official

Alright Phelps phanatics. If you didn't get a chance to play grab ass in Vegas with the gold medal god, you'll have another chance in Baltimore on October 4.

After a miscue in August, the Phelpstival is a go, and it starts with a "Parade of Gold" at 3 pm through Towson, Maryland, the suburb that the swimmer calls home. At 7 pm, a "Star-Spangled Salute" will be held at Fort McHenry.

One assumes the party won't stop just because it's getting late. While we can't guarantee a Phelps appearance, Max's Taphouse does have the biggest selection of beer in the city.

Related Stories:
· Phelpstival [Official Site]
· Max's Taphouse [Official Site]
· Michael Phelps coverage [Jaunted]

Michael Phelps / Tourism Boards / Olympics / Beijing Olympics / → All Tags

Baltimore "Phelpstival" Schedule Announced

Now that the Olympics are over, it's time for Baltimore to cash in on Michael Phelps' most recent gold medals. The Phelpstival--that we heard about last week--will start at 9 am on September 11 in the suburb of Towson, Maryland.

The party kicks off at Phelps' high school, where Cedar Avenue will be renamed in his honor. A parade will then march to the courthouse where the world record holder will receive a key to Baltimore County.

Here's hoping the Baltimore tourism board doesn't make him do a lap in a hotel pool.

Update: Don't believe everything you read at Baltimore.org! Turns out the tourism board posted info about 2004's Phelpstival on its official website before hyping the news on Twitter. Only later did officials realize that they'd made a mistake. When the real Phelpstival is announced, we'll let you know--as long as the tourism peeps give us the correct date!

Related Stories:
· Phelpstival [Official Site]
· Baltimore Tourism Wants a Piece of Michael Phelps [Jaunted]

[Photo: PopStarsPlus]

Michael Phelps / Tourism Boards / Olympics / Beijing Olympics / → All Tags

Baltimore Tourism Wants a Piece of Michael Phelps

Who doesn't want to siphon off a bit of that Michael Phelps glory these days? Baltimore, the record-smashing swimmer's hometown, is hoping to milk his eight-medal Olympics for as much tourism as the city can stand. The Baltimore Area CVA has even set up a specific URL for Phelps phanatics: Baltimore.org/phelps.

So far, the page is pretty much blank, with just a vague promise of more to come:

Check back to Baltimore.org for information on Phelps' Welcome Home Celebration.

Hopefully the party doesn't involve any lusty fans getting ill-advised tattoos!

Related Stories:
· Olympic Travel: Which Stars Are Watching the Games? [Jaunted]
· Olympics coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Allure]

Celeb Travel / Olympics / Beijing Olympics / David Beckham / → All Tags

Olympic Travel: Which Stars Are Watching the Games?

The world simultaneously giggled and rolled its eyes when the Guardian newspaper released a photo gallery of President Bush up to his usual hijinks at the 2008 Summer Olympics with wife Laura and daughter Barbara. But he's not the only non-competing celebrity to be hanging out in the host city, hoping to bump into Michael Phelps.

Blogger Beijing Boyce has been collecting celeb sightings of people like Bill and Melinda Gates on the Olympic green, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling at (where else?) the baseball stadium, and Jared Leto just about anywhere.

David Hasselhoff and John Mayer are rolling into town to celebrate the last leg of the Gumball 3000.

But the best celebrity leak so far involves a bunch of civilians who are being pressed into action to represent their country at the last minute. No, not as an ad hoc water polo team, but at the closing ceremonies Led Zeppelin will perform with Leona Lewis and David Beckham will speak for the next summer Olympics, in London in 2012. Reportedly, they will all have a red double-decker bus for a platform, which makes us both excited and nervous.

Related Stories:
· LOL Bush: The president at the Olympics [Guardian.co.uk]
· Beijing Olympics Celebrity Watch [Beijing Boyce]
· Gumball Rally To Arrive in Beijing Tomorrow [2008 Games Beijing]
· Beckham to appear at closing ceremony [BBC]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[LOLBush: the Guardian]

Olympics / Beijing Olympics / China Travel / Embassies / → All Tags

Forget Gymnastics: US Now Challenging China's Olympic Architecture

If you've never been to an American embassy, we're here to tell you that it's not actually that much fun. (Well, maybe it's fun if you're invited to a party, but that's not why we stopped by!) Still, the new diplomatic mission in Beijing looks good enough to compete with The Bird's Nest and The Watercube.

The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill building opened the same day as the games, August 8, and is second in size only to the US embassy in Baghdad. The eight-floor facility covers 10 acres and cost $434 million to build. It's just outside Beijing's Third Ring Road.

Inside, you'll find a rich collection of contemporary art, including pieces from Louise Bourgeois, Martin Puryear, Maya Lin, Cai Guo-Qiang and Robert Rauschenberg. Because the embassy had a budget of "only" $800,000, many of the works were either donated or sold way below cost to the State Department. One exception is Jeff Koons' "Tulips" which is on a 10-year loan from the artist.

Related Stories:
· About the Embassy [Official Site]
· Cool New US Embassy in Beijing [BlackBook]
· More Embassy Travel: Let's Go See the Queen! [Jaunted]

[Photo: SOM]

Beijing Olympics / Olympics / Dispatches from Beijing / → All Tags

Dispatches from Beijing: Live from the Olympics, Part 3

A friend of Jaunted is on-hand for the Olympics, and she'll be doing her best to keep us posted on what it's really like for a spectator in China. Here's her report from August 13:

My family and I started the day off early with a visit to the Great Wall of China. We thought we were getting a head start arriving at 8:45 am, as we had gone to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, which is usually less crowded and more scenic than the Great Wall at Badaling. But instead, we found an unusually big crowd--due to the Badaling area being closed for an Olympic cycling race on the roads nearby.

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Beijing Olympics / Olympics / Dispatches from Beijing / → All Tags

Dispatches from Beijing: Live from the Olympics, Part 2

A friend of Jaunted is on-hand for the Olympics, and she'll be doing her best to keep us posted on what it's really like for a spectator in China. Here's her latest report:

It's my family's first full day in Beijing, and it's not as smoggy or hazy as we had expected. I heard that the conditions were so hot and humid that quite a few cyclists in the race on Sunday pulled out because of the tough conditions. Rain on Sunday evening might have helped clear the air over yesterday and today.

I thought I would be seeing this intense layer of smog, however, it's just hazy. Instead of checking out the Olympic events, we toured the city. We have a terrific private guide, who makes navigating the city so much more manageable!

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Olympics / Beijing Olympics / 2008 Olympics / Beijing Olympics 2008 / Music Travel / → All Tags

China Travel: Putting Down Beats From One Host Country To Another

Finally, someone to speak for the expats: Rapper Eli Sweet found his niche as a performer-slash-English teacher after moving from Hotlanta--to Chengdu, China.

His MySpace page still lists him as Atlanta-based--and as "the dopest white rapper without a fade"--but after graduation from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, Sweet, who had been studying Chinese on and off for years, took an unconventional path to musical recognition in becoming perhaps the only white rapper in Chengdu. NPR's videos of Sweet in Chengdu present a completely different side of the Olympic hosts, but inspire us to visit just as much as those sweeping shots of the Watercube.

We wish Sweet were a more regular blogger, based on a March '07 entry about the popularity of the combover, the state of the bathrooms and what Chinese people think of their neighbor, Thailand. His on-the-ground knowledge of what Asian rap sounds like alone is priceless.

Related Stories:
· American Rapper Eli Sweet Reflects On China [NPR]
· This Is Why I'm Hot [Eli Sweet's MySpace Blog]
· Beijing Olympics 2008 coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of a rap concert in Shanghai: nicklui]

Beijing Olympics / 2008 Olympics / Beijing Olympics 2008 / Olympics / Boingo / WiFi / → All Tags

WiFi Travel: Beijing Suddenly Has More Connections to Monitor

Worldwide wireless provider Boingo has just launched 349 new hotspots in Beijing, a move timed to coincide with the Olympics.

The full list of hotspots is here, though it currently only shows 329 places to jump online. You can use Boingo's new Aspirin promotion, but since these connections are overseas, you'll have to pay a "premium fee" to get online.

Presumably, the WiFi is still under the same restrictions as all internet access in China, so your mileage may vary. Earlier this year, we discussed some strategies for circumventing state control of the internet.

Related Stories:
· WiFi coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jon crel]

Beijing Olympics / 2008 Olympics / Beijing Olympics 2008 / Olympics / Dispatches from Beijing / Dara Torres / → All Tags

Dispatches from Beijing: Live from the Olympics

A friend of Jaunted is on-hand for the Olympics, and she'll be doing her best to keep us posted on what it's really like for a spectator in China. The first of her reports came through today:

I arrived in Beijing with my family early this afternoon and we went to our first event: the Women's 58 kg Class Weightlifting. It was amazing to see these women lift up to two-and-a-half times their weight. China's Yanqing Chen won the gold.

But that wasn't the first Olympic event we attended, as we were lucky enough to get tickets to the Men's Preliminary Football event on August 7 in Shanghai Stadium, where some of the soccer matches are being played. We saw an exciting game, sitting next to 50,000 other fans: The sold-out match between Argentina and Ivory Coast.

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