[Photo/Xinhua]

My brother was on a business trip to India recently and was - apparently - so efficient that he finished his assignment a week early.

Why not come to China and take the trans-Pacific route back home to Dallas? I suggested. There was little time to apply for a Chinese visa but since he is a US citizen, he could avail of the 72-hour visa-free transit, available to citizens of about 50 countries and offered by nearly 20 cities.

Three days in China? Do you think China is Singapore? was the retort.

I could see his point. Singapore or Hong Kong are bite-sized cities which can be enjoyed in a few days. More importantly, they are major transit hubs linking continents; unlike major Chinese mainland cities which are destinations in themselves.

For many people around the world, especially in countries not in the region, China is a once-in-a-lifetime trip and takes considerable planning. You don't fly to Xi'an (which offers visa-free transit) on a whim to see the Terracotta Warriors.

The typical tourist would like to take in the culture and cuisine of South China, the tranquil gardens of Suzhou, the majestic West Lake in Hangzhou, the sweeping landscapes of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region or the mystique of the Tibet autonomous region - and much more, not to mention Beijing or Shanghai.

Clearly, a 72-hour visa doesn't provide enough time to enjoy any one of those, let alone the whole country.