Star Rating System
The Star Rating System based on western perceptions and occasionally used by hotel authorities
in China. The system comprises:
Five star: usually used to mean foreign invested hotels.
Four star: including most remaining foreign invested hotels and some state-owned properties.
Three star: including a large number of state-owned hotels and some private hotels.
Two star: including mostly collective, pooled and private hotels.
One star: including mostly Chinese hotels that, as with two star establishments, cater largely to
Chinese guests.
No star rating: this is the bulk of Chinese small hotels catering almost solely to the local
population.

More than 5,200 hotels in China accommodate foreign visitors, with a total of 700,000 guest rooms and 1.41 million beds. These hotels are rated
according to established international star-rating standards. By the end of 1997, there were 2,724 star-rated hotels in the country, including 57 five-
star hotels, 157 four-star hotels, 895 three-star hotels, 1,339 two star hotels and 276 one-star hotels. In other words, more than half of China's
hotels open to foreigners have been star rated.

These tourist hotels, star-rated ones in particular, bear the brunt of the flow of foreign visitors to China, providing them with food, lodging and many
other services according to international standards.

No star hotels are exist in remote areas or small villages, the guests house or family Inn will always be equipped with clean bed, AC room, private
bathroom with hot water shower. Limited English may be available at the reception desk but it is unlikely that any other employees will speak any
English.

One-star hotels are equipped simply with dining facilities and other basic accommodations that are meant to satisfy travelers' basic needs.

Two-star hotels are usually built with a store, post office, barber shop, and other amenities in addition to guest rooms and dining rooms.

Three-star hotel rooms are always equipped with an air-conditioner, color TV, refrigerator, telephone, double curtain and a private bathroom. Hot
and cold water is available 24 hours a day and internet access may be available except in remote areas or cities like Lhasa. And they are also have
restaurants, bar and coffee services, banquet halls, conference rooms, ballrooms and laundry facilities. Some of the staff can speak basic,
everyday English while other may be able to speak only Chinese.

Four or five-star hotels are luxury properties with spacious, soundproof rooms; large lobbies; health clubs; business centers; 24-hour room
service and excellent Chinese and western food. And they are also equipped with swimming pools, bowl golf courses, saunas, safety-deposit
boxes, as well as facilities for fishing, boating, horseback riding, hunting, sharp shooting and other sports.

Ownership Status
Additionally, hotels are sometimes grouped by ownership status:
State-owned: those hotels owned by the Chinese state.
Collective: those hotels owned most often by agricultural, industrial and business collectives. These are often rurally based.
Private: these are few in number and represent nascent entrepreneurism in the hotel industry by Chinese investors.
Pooling: these are hotels featuring mixed ownership structures usually through Chinese interests.
Shareholding: Again, as with pooling above, these are usually hotels featuring a mixture of interests - both Chinese and foreign.
Foreign invested: these are invariably owned and/or managed by the international chains in conjunction with overseas property
developers/investors. Foreign in this context is taken to mean any overseas involvement excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwanese invested: these establishments are usually upmarket hotels with investment from overseas Chinese
(overseas Chinese are subject to slightly different visa, investment and other regulations in China).

Upmarket, Mid-range and Budget Hotels

Upmarket hotels can be found in all the major cities and a growing number of provincial towns and include
the vast majority of the foreign funded hotels in China. In general they usually conform to four or five star
international status and have, or have had, foreign management. Upmarket hotels in China invariably have
international business centers, money changing facilities, conference facilities and a range of restaurants.

Mid-range hotels are often those built by local developers, or less well-known foreign investors, that invariably
have pretensions to upmarket status. Room rates tend to be below RMB300 and restaurant facilities are less
western-oriented. Indeed, these hotels are usually targeted at the growing Chinese business community and
Asian travelers.

Budget hotels are almost unknown in China and there has not yet been the expansion in low priced accommodation seen in countries such as
the UK and the USA. Therefore budget hotel in China invariably indicates cheap and poor quality. Most are not available to foreigners and English
is intermittently spoken. Plumbing is notoriously faulty, lifts slow and restaurants poor quality if attached. They tend to be located near railway
stations or, in the case of Beijing and Shanghai, in the suburbs.

China’s hotel industry can trace its roots to an earlier age of daks and inns, and over the years the hotel industry has been evolving in order to
accommodate the needs of a rapidly changing society. Over the last several years, tourism in China has been growing by leaps and bounds in part
because of the rapidly improved living standards of people throughout the world. This advancement has also had a corresponding effect on
China’s hotel industry, one of the three main pillars of tourism in China. Star-level hotels and budget hotels in China's major cities developed
rapidly, forming current China hotel industry with large scale, considerable quantity, all kinds levels and styles.

The hotel industry has been one of China’s most open sectors; the first foreign-run luxury hotel opened in Beijing in 1982. international hoteliers
have been rushing to expand their presence in China. In addition to China’s booming economy, which has spurred business and leisure travel
markets, China’s fast-developing real estate sector and skilled workforce is attractive to foreign hoteliers.

China is the second largest destination traveling country in the world, receiving a large number of visitors both domestic and abroad every year.
Economy hotels, youth hostels and youth hotels are growing up very fast in china.

By the end of 2005, China's star-level hotels totaled to 12930, increasing 2042 with a year-on-year rate of 18.75%, hotel rooms reached 1.37
million, increasing 132.1 thousand with 10.67%, beds amounted to 2.55 million, increasing 183.4 thousand with 7.75%. Considering the current
investment enthusiasm in hotel industry, the estimated amount of star-level hotels will reach 13500 by the end of 2006.

Accommodations are more luxurious in the large and thriving cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xian and Shenzhen. Fewer
luxury hotels can be found in smaller cities or remote areas. However, there are plenty of economical or standard hotels away from the larger cities
that are clean, comfortable and safe.

Some traditional Chinese hotels like those found in the quadrangle in Beijing are becoming more and more popular among foreign tourists. In
China, not all hotels are permitted to receive foreigners depending on whether or not they meet certain requirements.

Compared with international hotel industry, China hotels, especially those accommodate foreign tourists, are more advanced on hardware.

The increase of the numbers of the hotels make more choices available for the tourist and lead to more competition and better prices. Which is the
good news for the travelers indeed