Mars Base 1 in the Gobi Desert in Jinchang, Gansu Province, simulates the living environment for astronauts on the planet. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Domestic travel services are seeking to tap into China’s lucrative science fiction market by developing out-of-this-world vacation experiences, Xu Lin reports.
Xie Jixiao, 22, loves watching rocket launches and recording the excitement of such events with her camera. Although he lives in Beijing, he frequently visits the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan Province.
Although spectators are usually about 3 to 5 kilometers from the launch pad, when the rocket ignites he feels the ground shake and the roar is so loud he feels like he is standing on side.
“It’s so close. Every time I watch a rocket launch, it’s science fiction come true, and I often burst into tears with excitement, even though I’ve watched multiple times. “, says Xie.
“It’s the best patriotic education. I think it shows our great national strength.”
He once watched a nighttime rocket launch and was overwhelmed by the scene of thick clouds lit by the roaring rocket.
Xie became a full-time aerospace photographer when he graduated from college last year. He is also a core member of SpaceLens, a group of young photographers, mostly university students, who like to record Chinese rocket launches in photos and video.
Like him, there are more Chinese travelers planning trips to see rocket launches.
Additionally, some young viewers enjoy posting photos of unique landforms in China online, saying “it’s a trip where they can pretend they’re on an alien planet.” Some even pose for photos at such places dressed in spacesuits.
The uneven landforms of Yardang in Dahaidao, Hami City, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. [Photo by Xu Lin/China Daily]
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