ABSTRACT
However, a large part of the provision of travel services to international tourists in the early years was non-commercial in nature. Apart from a small number of 'pioneer' international tourists, a large part of early visitors were not tourists in the strict sense. In fact, they were 'guests' of higher-level governments including the central government. By the late 1970s, more than 50 large-size foreign delegations consisting of government leaders, numerous diplomats, prominent figures and the like had already visited Guilin. At the local level, such travel services were usually arranged by the so-called waiban, or 'Offices of Foreign Affairs'. Receiving such international 'guests' was a top-down political task in the pre-reform period.
