Admission fees to Chinese tourist destinations, which typically increase each year, take up more and more of a traveller’s budget.

Take Suzhou and its classic sites as an example. In 1985, a visit to the Humble Administrator’s Garden was 0.1 RMB. Now, however, it will set you back 70 RMB – that’s a 700 percent increase. Entry to the Master of Nets Garden was 0.02 RMB, but now you will need to fork out 30 RMB to gain entry – a 1500 percent increase. And finally, a visit to Huqiu Tower, which back in the day required just 0.05 RMB, now demands 80 RMB – a 1600 percent increase.

Some people may argue that high entrance fees are a good way to limit the number of visitors and better preserve the individual environments. But, due to the scarcity of tourism resources, even if ticket prices were raised from 50 RMB to 500 RMB, many visitors would have the “now or never” mentality and still shell out the cash regardless.

This relentlessness of tourism was evident at the 2011 National Day Holiday (October 1 to 7). During this time, the Forbidden City received 130,000 visitors per day; the Great Wall, 64,500; and Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, 50,000. High prices clearly failed to serve as a deterrant to the swarms of sightseers.

2012 PRICE INCREASES FOR MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Ancient City of Pingyao, Shanxi province. Current price: 150 RMB (increase of 120 RMB)
Cable car ride at Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing. Current price: 80 RMB for round trip (increase of 65 RMB)
Qiao Family Compound, Pingyao, Shanxi province. Current price: 72 RMB (increase of 40 RMB)
Terracotta Army, Shaanxi province. Current price: 150 RMB (increase of 90 RMB)

CURRENT TICKET PRICES FOR OTHER MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Anhui province
Yellow Mountain: 230 RMB
Mount Jiuhua: 190 RMB
Beijing
Badaling section of the Great Wall: 45 RMB (peak season)
The Forbidden City: 60 RMB (peak season)
Fujian province
Wuyi Mountains: 250 RMB (for three days)
Gansu province
Mogao Grottoes: 160 RMB
Guizhou province
Huangguoshu Waterfall: 180 RMB
Henan province
Shaolin Monastery: 150 RMB
Hubei province
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: 248 RMB
Three Gorges Dam: 105 RMB
Jiangsu province
Lake Tai: 105 RMB
Jiangxi province
Mount Lu: 180 RMB
Shaanxi province
Mount Hua: 180 RMB (peak season)
Sichuan province
Huanglong Scenic Area: 200 RMB
Jiuzhai Valley: 310 RMB (peak season)
Tibet
Potala Palace: 100 RMB
Mount Everest: 180 RMB (not including car-entry fee)
Yunnan province
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain: 160 RMB