Tourism in China

There were 1,500 million tourists in China by 2006, of which 125 million were international visitors. Since China first opened its doors to tourism from the late 1970s it has become the world's fourth biggest tourist destination according to the World Tourism Office. Recent projections indicate it will push to second place by 2017.

The industry is still largely dictated by tour groups, both international and domestic visitors traveling between destinations and ticking off the country's must-sees. In the summer of 2007 I joined a tour group and recorded the tourist experience from within.