Ancient city to charge visitor maintenance fees

Kunming (CNS) – The ancient city of Dukezong in southeast Shangri-La County plans to charge its visitors a maintenance fee of 30 yuan per person to enter, reveals an announcement by the government of Yunnan Province.

The entrance fee is based on the comprehensive initial investment made by the ancient city and what is deemed affordable for tourists, said a source from the Yunnan Development and Reform Commission (YDRC) on January 31.

The source said YDRC will revise the charge standard after getting feedback from the public, and then submit a final proposal on February 3 for the approval of the Yunnan government .

The local government has charged visitor maintenance fees for access to other ancient cities, specifically Da Li and Li Jiang. Now it has turned to the ancient Tibetan city of Dukezong for some revenue recovery. The move has once again aroused public debate about whether an ancient city should charge such visitor maintenance fees or not.

Dukezong is China's best preserved and largest site of Tibetan communal architecture, much favored by tourists. In the Tibetan language, the name means "a castle built on stone" or "city in the moonlight".