It's unreasonable to raise prices of tickets to tourist spots before every "Golden Week" holiday. Ticket pricing is a public matter, so tourist spot managements should follow certain mandatory procedures before raising prices. For example, they should hold transparent public hearings to decide by how much ticket prices can be increased. The top priority of the managements should be to provide tickets at a fair price, a price that ordinary people can afford to pay.

Also, more scenic spots should allow visitors free entry because this will benefit them. For example, the management of Xihu Lake in Hangzhou of Zhejiang province decided in 2003 to allow visitors free entry. By doing so, the management has immensely benefited from the boom in the nearby service sector establishments such as hotels, restaurants and shopping malls.

More importantly, the price of a ticket to a tourist spot should depend on the grandeur of the site rather than on the whims and fancies of the management.

Wang Xiao, via e-mail

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