As China’s unique brand of communism continues to create millionaires by the scores, it’s not surprising that Chinese citizens would be interested in seeing how American captains of industry lived during our own Gilded Age. And so they come, in increasing numbers, to Newport.
To help them understand what they are viewing, Bryant University’s U.S.-China Institute has been engaged by the Preservation Society of Newport County to translate the mansion tour scripts into Mandarin, the dominant language in China. In addition, the institute will offer translators to assist tour groups if scheduling allows. (
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More than 11,000 Chinese tourists visited the mansions in 2007, a 34-percent increase over the previous year. And that trend should continue: more and more Chinese citizens have the resources to travel; the Chinese government has been easing travel restrictions; and Rhode Island is strategically located between two of the largest Chinese-American populations in the U.S., New York and Boston. At the current rate, the number of Chinese tourists at the mansions – already representing 10 percent of the total – will double in just two years.
Of course, many in the tourist industry are hoping to capitalize on this influx of Chinese visitors. Late last summer, Mohegan Sun dedicated a new 12,000-square-foot gaming area and 4,000-square-foot food court designed expressly for its Asian clientele. Foxwoods Resort Casino is also planning to provide entertainment that will connect more directly with its Chinese patrons, many of whom come on buses that travel up and down the East Coast all week long. •
