Rising demands for electrical power in China’s cities are causing the biggest shortages in 20 years, prompting economic planners in Beijing to order the city’s hotels to cut back their peak period usage by 20 percent of face a cutoff of all power. Needless to say, the hotels and tourism industry, including the Beijing Tourist Bureau, are fighting back. Businesspeople and tour groups usually pack Beijing’s hotels during the summer, and such draconian power cuts would weaken the city’s economy and damage its reputation as a business center and popular tourist site.
