Experience a unique Olympics with Chinese families
22/7/2008 17:25
For most travelers to China, the only choice to stay over night is staying
in hotels. But as the Beijing Olympics approaches, they have another choice, and
maybe a better one, that is to reside in the houses of ordinary Beijing citizens
to experience a typical Chinese life along with the Olympics.
Wang Yi, a
businessman who owns a siheyuan in downtown Dongcheng district, felt honored to
be one of the 598 Beijing homeowners selected to host foreign tourists during
the Olympic Games by the city authorities.
Covering an area of 300 square
meter, Wang's hutong-style compound represents traditional Beijing architecture
with a pair of stone lions standing on each side of door, a carved screen-wall
inside the gate and a corridor engraved with patterns and designs.
The house
was built at the age of Qing Dynasty and has a history of several hundred years,
said Wang, who is in his forties.
In April, the Beijing Tourism
Administration initiated the homestay program out of the motive to offer
overseas tourists an opportunity to get to the heart of Beijing folk lifestyle
on the sideline of enjoying the Games.
Applicants are required to be able to
provide spare rooms with good ventilation and sanitary conditions. At least one
person in each family should be capable of speaking English.
By far, some 598
households in Beijing have been chosen from more than 1,000 applicants as
officially designated "Olympic Homestay" for foreign tourists next
month.
Most of the families lived near major stadiums, trunk roads, cultural
sites and hutongs, providing an easy access for the guests to experience
traditional Beijing life.
The cost of each family hotel is 50 to 80 US
dollars per night, about a seventh of the cost of a three or four-star hotel for
the Games.
To cater to the taste of overseas travelers, Wang has purchased a
whole set of Chinese-style furniture for the north-facing guest room.
"This
is the Chao embroidery, one of the four most famous categories of Chinese
embroidery products," introduced Wang, pointing to a framed needlework on the
wall.
Wang, who himself wears a Chinese-style suit, said that his 17-year-old
daughter had hoped to become an Olympic volunteer, which prompted him to apply
for the recruitment of "Olympic Homestay".
A senior high school student,
Wang's daughter has traveled to several countries, where she had no problem to
communicate with foreigners in English.
"I love Chinese culture and it is a
great idea to combine the one-century-old Olympics with centuries-old Chinese
culture," said Wang, referring to the homestay drive, hoping that Chinese
culture would be spread to other parts of the world through the contact so that
more people could know better about China and about Beijing.
As a Peking
Opera fan, Wang and his friends get together every weekend to put up
performances.
Wang said he has bought a coffee machine for the guests and is
learning to make easy western-style food in case they are not accustomed to
Chinese cuisine. He also expressed the will to guide his guests for
sightseeing.
Wang admitted that there are certainly divergences between the
eastern and western cultures, but as the host he will do the service well.
"I
will try my best to make foreign guests feel at home as hospitality is the
traditional character of the Chinese people," he said.
Speaking of his
expectation for the Games, Wang said that it is a great joy for China to seize
the chance to host the Olympic Games, and participation is more important than
winning medals.
In Dongcheng district, 59 homes have been chosen from 102
accommodation candidates as "Olympic Homestay". To ensure smooth advancement of
the drive, the district also enhanced supervision over the families on security,
sanitation and service etiquette.
The district tourism administration also
planned to offer aid to those families which will sign accommodation contracts
with tourism agencies.
Beijing is gearing up to accommodate at least 330,000
visitors every day during the Olympics. About 500,000 foreigners are expected to
visit the capital at some point during the Games.
The Beijing tourism
authorities said that due to the limit schedule and transportation problem, most
homestay visitors would hail from Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea,
Singapore and Malaysia. They would be introduced by travel agencies to the
families.
The China Travel Service Head Office and the China International
Travel Service Head Office (CITS) have undertaken the task to organize homestay
accommodation guests.
Zhao Xin, CITS's Olympic service center's director,
said the two travel agencies will organize homestay guests to go sight-seeing
and watch at least one Olympic match. But the costs are still being calculated.
Xinhua
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