Will China's ‘emergent' jobs help its youths find stable work?
The city of Xian in western China – renowned as the country's ancient capital and home of the Terracotta Army – has long been a prime destination for tourists from home and abroad. But Chang Youli, a stylist of traditional Chinese clothing (hanfu) based in the city, has noticed many people are joining her trade to cater to a particular type of traveller.
'Thanks to government promotions, the tourism industry here has grown, and more people are coming to experience hanfu,' said Chang, who now runs her own make-up studio. 'It has inevitably led to more competition, but it also helps more people know about our culture.'
The elaborate costumes,
typically donned for photoshoots at scenic or historical points of interest, have exploded in popularity in tandem with calls from the government to embrace traditional culture as a means of expressing national confidence.
Tourists visiting Xian's city wall or other heritage sites often spend half a day or more dressing up, applying make-up and posing with notable landmarks. A cottage industry has developed to meet this new demand, employing costumiers, make-up artists and photographers – with some enterprising minds packaging these services together for an all-in-one experience.
Roughly 306 million trips were made to the city last year, generating tourism income of 376 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 10.3 per cent and 12.3 per cent, respectively.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Will China's ‘emergent' jobs help its youths find stable work?
The city of Xian in western China – renowned as the country's ancient capital and home of the Terracotta Army – has long been a prime destination for tourists from home and abroad. But Chang Youli, a stylist of traditional Chinese clothing (hanfu) based in the city, has noticed many people are joining her trade to cater to a particular type of traveller. 'Thanks to government promotions, the tourism industry here has grown, and more people are coming to experience hanfu,' said Chang, who now runs her own make-up studio. 'It has inevitably led to more competition, but it also helps more people know about our culture.' The elaborate costumes, typically donned for photoshoots at scenic or historical points of interest, have exploded in popularity in tandem with calls from the government to embrace traditional culture as a means of expressing national confidence. Tourists visiting Xian's city wall or other heritage sites often spend half a day or more dressing up, applying make-up and posing with notable landmarks. A cottage industry has developed to meet this new demand, employing costumiers, make-up artists and photographers – with some enterprising minds packaging these services together for an all-in-one experience. Roughly 306 million trips were made to the city last year, generating tourism income of 376 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 10.3 per cent and 12.3 per cent, respectively.
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
When the Hilton Hotel chain came to Hong Kong in the 1960s
'Executives of the Hilton Hotel chain said today that they would visit Hongkong for the express purpose of discussing plans for a new luxury hotel there,' reported the South China Morning Post on January 11, 1956. Advertisement 'Mr John Houser, executive vice-president of Hilton Hotels International, and Mr Rug Purpus, publicity director for the new hotel chain, will leave New York on January 20 on a tour through Asia and the Middle East which will take them to Hongkong, Honolulu, Tokyo, Manila, Sydney, Melbourne, Djakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Bombay, New Delhi, Karachi, Baghdad and then to Cairo and Istanbul to inspect the new Hilton Hotels in those later two cities. Mr Purpus said: 'Hongkong is definitely on our list. We are going there for the express purpose of discussing plans for a new luxury hotel there.'' How the South China Morning Post broke the story of the plans for a Hilton Hotel in the city on January 11, 1956. Photo: SCMP Archives On April 3, 1963, the Post ran the update that Mr Howard Baron, general manager of Wynncor Inc, owners of the Hong Kong Hilton, 'discussed the impact […] the new hotel will have on the economy of Hongkong'. 'Planning for the hotel began three years ago, Mr Baron said, when the owners purchased the old Murray Barracks site. Nearly one year ago Mr Baron set the opening date for April 15, 1963. The Hongkong Hilton, Mr Baron continued, would bring an additional 25,000 tourists into the colony each year, each spending an average of US$40 to US$50 a day. 'He said rooms would begin at US$10 while the average double room would be US$12 to US$14 a day.' Conrad Hilton, chairman and president of the Hilton Hotels, said 'Hong Kong is perhaps the most exciting city in the world today' when his hotel opened in the city.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
5 ways to enter mainland China without a visa
Visiting China used to be a costly, time-consuming process. Obtaining a Chinese visa often requires filling out pages of paperwork, paying more than US$100, and waiting for days for the documents to be processed. But things have changed rapidly over the past few years, as Beijing has introduced a slew of new visa-free entry policies in a bid to attract more foreign visitors and boost the country's tourism sector. Most famously, the country now allows travellers from certain countries that are transiting through China to stay in the country without a visa for up to 10 days. The scheme currently covers passport holders from 55 nations, with Indonesia becoming the latest country to be included in June. There are also several other visa-free policies in effect, each of which has different rules and eligibility criteria. Here are five different options for travellers planning to enter the mainland without a Chinese visa. 1. Transit through Chinese cities (10 days) Passport holders from 55 nations – including Australia, Russia, the United States and countries throughout Europe – can enjoy an extended stay in much of mainland China when transiting through one of its international airports. Travellers can enter China via 60 ports of entry across 24 provincial-level regions under the scheme, including airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guilin, Kunming, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xiamen, Guangdong province and the Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang cluster.
