Kandy crush: Chinese travellers flocking to Sri Lanka's lakeside second city
Chinese travellers are flocking to Sri Lanka's lakeside second city while a diminishing number of Russians soak up the sun on Hikkaduwa's beaches. Words and pictures by Tim Pile
At a lookout point high above the city of Kandy, a Chinese tour group gather around their guide. The Sri Lankan points into the distance, fires off a sentence in rapid Putonghua and is rewarded with a ripple of laughter.
"I told them how fitting it is that Kandy has a Temple of the Tooth," he says to me.
The mainlanders don't hang around for long. Photos are hurriedly taken and, as the minibus roars away, smartphone screens illuminate a dozen faces as the images are uploaded to social media sites.
Sri Lanka is experiencing an upsurge in the number of Chinese holidaymakers - and a corresponding increase in demand for Putonghua-speaking guides. According to the Tour Guide Association, there are currently only 12 Sri Lankans with the linguistic proficiency required by the sightseeing companies that whisk mainland tourists around the island.
Shopping forms an integral part of the whistle-stop trips. Visits to designated souvenir outlets are built into itineraries, just as they are in Hong Kong, but the tourists are no pushovers. Retailers grumble that the Chinese drive a hard bargain and won't hesitate to walk away if they're unhappy with the price or where the item was produced.
