Beijing is planning to upgrade services to welcome more tourists in the coming years.
By 2008, domestic and international visitors to the Olympic Games host city will see a greener and cleaner Beijing.
According to Yu Jun, an official from the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau, the number of tourists to Beijing will increase, because of upgraded management in these sceneries, not because the number of scenic spots will increase.
By 2008, the number of scenic spots will remain the same but will meet the demand to accommodate as many as 140 million Chinese and 3.56 million overseas visitors, due to improved services and facilities.
Currently, the capital has more than 300 scenic spots and historical sites, spreading from downtown to the suburbs. Among the sceneries, the Palace Museum (the Forbidden City), the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven and the Peking Man Site in Zhoukoudian are listed as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritages.
According to statistics provided by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau, in 2000, 80 million domestic visitors and 2.82 million international tourists brought 49.6 billion yuan (US$5.99 billion) and US$2.7 billion respectively to the city.
(People's Daily 08/14/2001)
