From watching the big five lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino to visiting heritage sites, South Africa is a colorful destination, yet the number of visitors from China fell last year.

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    The perception of an extreme experience "is the biggest challenge for us to promote tourism coming from China", Manqoba Nyembezi, tourism attach with South Africa Embassy in China, told China Daily.

    In 2005 the number of tourists visiting South Africa reached 7.3 million, increasing by 10.7 percent, while tourism from China slumped by 13 percent during the same period.

    The attach has been in China for three years since South Africa got approved destination status in 2003.

    "My job is to see more Chinese people informed about South Africa," said Nyembezi.

    "If they don't know about South Africa, their perception is that it's far-away and costly to travel there. But they would be excited about the region if they knew more and did experience it," he said.

    Currently, Nyembezi's task is especially pressing as the 2010 World Cup in South Africa approaches.

    The world's premier soccer event, 2010 World Cup will be the first World Cup tournament to take place in Africa and is expected to bring in at least 400,000 visitors.

    "It's hard to tell how many of them would be Chinese, but we expect it to be a large number," said Zolelwa Mukhozo, portfolio manager of Asia and Australasia with South African Tourism Bureau.

    In December the tourism bureau announced it will provide an additional six South African routes tailored to Chinese leisure travelers.

    For the past three years there was only one package available to Chinese travelers, which may have seen some plans reconsidered due to the limited choice.

    The current six routes are organized around different themes, including fashion, dining and wine tasting, cultural experiences, exploration, wildlife viewing and railroad journeys.

    "Different from China, the December to February period is South Africa's summer, an appropriate time for outdoor activities," said Nyembezi. "I think the six intensive routes will help Chinese visitors discover more about the variety of South Africa's charms."

    He said prices are also attractive.

    "The prices for a round-trip of the six packages range from 10,000 to 12,000 yuan," he said. "It's not that expensive, is it?"

    According to the Grading Council of South Africa, the official authority on accommodation grading, there are 55,000 rooms that have already been graded, with more now under consideration.

    Airlines like South African Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore and Malaysia Airlines provide South Africa-China routes.

(Source: China Daily)