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.