January 1, 2016, Anhui, Fujian, Liaoning, Sichuan, and Tianjin joined Beijing, Shanghai and Hainan in adopting the tax refund policy for inbound visitors. We hope more and more regions will adopt the policy thus bringing more benefits for overseas visitors.

On December 21st, 2015, Shanghai government announced that it would carry out the 144-hour visa-free transit policy since January 30th 2016 to benefit international passengers. Passengers transiting in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Provinces can now enjoy a free stay period up to 144 hours and travel in the three places.

Recently, haze and fog hit many places in northern and central China. As a result, the incidence of road accidents rises. Several expressways have been closed temporarily to avoid accidents. Meanwhile, a lot of flight have been canceled or delayed due to the bad weather. TravelChinaGuide kindly gives tourists some useful tips regarding your stay in China.

Beijing embraced the first snow of 2015 on November 6th. The snow drove away the smoggy weather recently and improved air quality. With the early arrival of snow this year, many ski resorts around Beijing are planning to open to the public in advance. Tourists can go there to enjoy the fun in winter.

Recently, a tourist from mainland China had a quarrel with her tour guide when travelling in Hong Kong. The tourist joined a tour group at a low price but was forced to shop in a store which gave commission to the guide. A man died in his attempt to stop the quarrel. We can learn a lesson from the sad accident and not to be trapped when selecting travel agencies.

China will hold a troop review at Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2015 to commemorate the victory of World War II. A series of measures will be taken to ensure that the activity can go smoothly, like the imposition of martial law around Tiananmen Square and Wangfujing Street on August 22 and 23, and September 2 and 3, the closure of Forbidden City from August 22 to September 3. Visitors intending to go to Beijing should keep an eye on the event before making their travel plans.

Beijing has won the bid to hold 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games on July 31st, 2015, making it the first city to hold both Summer and Winter Olympics. Even though it is cold in winter, Beijing has many interesting places to have fun, like Bird's Nest, ski resorts, ice waterfalls, hot springs, and hotpot restaurants.

From June to July of this year, most provinces in Southern China have been struck by heavy rainstorms, which caused the loss of more than 100 lives and CNY 35 billion. On July 20th, the National Meteorological Center issued a warning of further rainstorms in most regions of southern China.

China has carried out tax rebate policy in Beijing and Shanghai among inbound visitors since July 1st, 2015. Someone think it will bring positive impacts to the two cities, like stimulating consumption, enhancing their competitiveness in inbound tourism markets, helping Chinese old brands to grow, while others think the impacts will not be seen obviously, as goods and prices in the tax free stores are not attractive enough, and European countries are undergoing an economic recession, etc.

Due to the danger oflandslides, Yangtze River section between Fengjie and Badong has been closed for all ships. This affects Yangtze River cruise in several ways: passengers will travel the blocked section by bus and change to another same level cruise ship after arrival; the Wu Gorge and Qutang Gorge will be missed; the side cruise to Three Little Gorges will be replaced by Shennong Stream or Shennv Stream. The reopening date of the section is still unknown.