China Opens 137 Cities, Areas to Foreigners

China announced today that it will open 137 more cities and regions to foreign travelers as of Feb. 1, including the exotic capital of Tibet and cities in a vast northwestern region bordering the Soviet Union.

Travel to the cities and regions will no longer require travel permits, but will be open to all foreign visitors with valid Chinese visas or residence cards, the official Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily reported.

Public Security Bureau officials said 137 localities will more than double the 107 spots now open to foreigners, bringing to 244 the total number of places officially “opened” under China’s open-door policy, the paper said.

The new regulations mark the largest single broadening of authorized travel for foreigners in China since the nation embarked on its open-door policy in 1979.

Lhasa Included

The list of cities includes spots as exotic as Lhasa, capital of Tibet, and the cities of Urumqi and Turfan in the vast northwestern region of Xinjiang bordering the Soviet Union.

Cities falling along the ancient silk road to India, such as Lanzhou, in the arid Gansu province, will also open.

With the new regulations, all China’s 21 provinces, three major municipalities and five autonomous regions will have “Category A” areas opened to foreign travelers with valid visas.

In addition, some “Category B” areas will remain opened only to foreigners who obtain official travel permits from public security officials.

Tourism is expected to become a major source of foreign exchange for China within 15 years, Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang said Monday at a national conference on tourism.

Tourism ‘High on Agenda’

Zhao said tourism “must be put high on the agenda of national economic development.”

He also said that “while building hotels, airports and highways, we should also give more attention to improving the qualifications of tourist guides, hotel attendants and management personnel.”