Chinese tourists shut-out by US shutdown want compensation

Some Chinese tourists visiting the US during the nation's week-long National Day holiday have complained of a lack of spots to visit after the US government closed hundreds of federally funded sites.

The partial government shutdown brought on by a budget battle has closed hundreds of national parks and museums including the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo.

China's National Tourism Administration issued a statement on Thursday advising those travelling to the US "to keep abreast of the situation and to carefully design their itinerary".

Millions of Chinese go on holidays, some of them abroad, during the National Day "golden week". Some tour operators have changed itineraries.

But the tourism body's advice did not ease the frustration of some Chinese people who travelled to the US to see famous sights including the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument, both of which are closed.

A tourist from Shanghai told the Xinhua news agency that the US government should compensate Chinese tourist because "no travel agency would compensate for that since the incident was beyond their control".