Chinese tourists flocking to neighbor

BEIJING - Lu Na thinks that the 4,000 yuan ($630) she spent on traveling to the Republic of Korea (ROK) was worth every penny.

"Apart from the exotic outfits and tasty kimchi, I really appreciated local people's friendliness and the convenient language environment there," said the 27-year-old, who traveled to the country in October 2011 and came back with bags of fashionable dresses and cosmetics.

"I could communicate freely most of the time in the ROK, because there were Mandarin-speaking attendants at many hotels, shopping malls and tourist attractions," Lu said.

Zhu Linlin, media manager of the Korea Tourism Organization's Beijing branch, said that "there is nothing to worry about" if a Chinese person travels to the ROK.

"We have provided many services to Chinese visitors, including free transport cards, handbooks for individual tourists, and more liberal visa policies."

"We believe that no country can compare with the ROK in providing services for individual Chinese travelers," said Zhu.

According to statistics from China Tourism Academy, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the ROK reached more than 2 million by the end of October 2011, up 19.9 percent compared with the same period last year.