With the arrival of summer, many people in mainland China are getting ready to go on vacation. However, there have been complaints recently about the high cost of traveling in the Altai region of Xinjiang, with expenses exceeding those of a trip to Europe. This news made it to the top of the Baidu search trends on June 6.
A woman named Zhang from Hangzhou recently revealed that she had originally planned to travel to the Altai region with friends on June 8. She mentioned that at the end of April, she had checked the price of a one-way ticket from Hangzhou to Urumqi, which was around 1200 yuan at the time. However, by the end of May, the same flight with taxes included had soared to over 2000 yuan. Since there are no direct flights from Hangzhou to Altai, travelers also need to pay an additional 600 yuan for a one-way ticket from Urumqi to Altai.
In addition to the increase in flight prices, the cost of hotels and tour packages in the Altai region has also seen varying degrees of growth.
Zhang told the Beijing Business Daily, “Calculating the round-trip flight tickets for two people has already exceeded 10,000 yuan, and when adding up the local expenses for renting a car, accommodation, and other fees, it would cost over 10,000 yuan per person.”
One of Zhang’s friends registered for a tour to Altai, which lasted 8 days and 7 nights, with the total cost for two people amounting to around 24,000 yuan.
Zhang lamented, “This price is enough for me to go to Europe.”
She expressed that although she was excited about the natural scenery and culture of Altai, the high cost of travel has forced her and her friends to reconsider their travel plans.
After the news was released, it sparked discussions among nearly three hundred netizens on Baidu.
A netizen named “Kaisersnest” commented, “Let’s conservatively calculate the daily expenses at 1000 yuan.”
Another netizen, “斋彗云4X” shared, “The most expensive dish I’ve ever had was a plate of homemade shredded potatoes at Karas for 138 yuan, a bowl of ordinary soup with no meat costing 50 yuan, three people spent a total of 988 yuan (similar to the kind of food in student dormitories in the 90s). This happened in 2012.”
Baidu user ba87068 advised everyone, “Xinjiang is suitable for rich people to travel luxuriously or for college students to travel on a budget. The middle ground between these two ways of travel can be quite tiring. When eating, go to local eateries, otherwise just buy biscuits and bread from the supermarket. For transportation, take the green train; for getting around, it’s a bit extravagant but renting a car to drive by yourself can save money and make the trip more enjoyable.”
The Altai region of Xinjiang has recently garnered attention due to the popular TV series “My Altai” airing in mainland China, making Xinjiang a hot tourist destination.
Responding to this, a netizen named “_邋遢魚_” said, “A movie can boost a place’s popularity, but once it’s popular, prices will go up.”
Another netizen, “在蠡園駕駛飛機的夕霧草,” believed, “Gaining popularity is an opportunity that should be considered in the long term, improving supporting facilities, enhancing service experiences, and keeping the popularity going. If one just tries to make a quick profit while it’s hot, it will burn out quickly.”