Old Chinese tourist town opposes new entry fee

Shop owners in Fenghuang old town, a popular tourist site in Hunan province , have seen business fall by as much as half since the local government introduced an entry fee for tourists last week. They went on strike on Wednesday over the charge.

The government says the 148 yuan (HK$185) admission fee is necessary to keep the streets and waterways clean amid a rising tide of tourists. But business owners say the fee, which they fear will rise in the long term, is already driving away customers.

Meng Hua said 50 per cent fewer customers have come into the small rice noodle shop he manages in Fenghuang old town. He hopes that some customers will return after public anger over the fee subsides.

"We've no choice but to wait and see, because I don't know what else I could do for a living," Meng said. "But it's as simple as that. We can't operate for a loss all the time."

Fenghuang, in the province's southwest, was founded in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and is known for its well-preserved Ming and Qing dynasty buildings and its large Miao and Tujia ethic-minority populations. It was placed on a tentative list of sites for inclusion in Unesco's World Heritage list in 2008 for its "practical and scientific city planning and town site selection".

Yesterday marked the beginning of the first weekend since the shop owners' strike, which paralysed the old town.