Like the U.S., China has an extensive national park system. Still, its designated parklands aren’t always protected from economic development. On Tuesday, Beijing Youth Daily published an investigation into how 20,000 acres of protected land in southern China’s Guizhou Forest Park were converted into golf courses, padding the pockets of local developers.
A telling note: Since 2004, construction of new golf courses has been illegal in China, following a directive of the State Council. The poorly enforced regulation hasn’t stopped the number of golf courses from multiplying from 170 in 2004 to more than 1,000 today—a more than fivefold increase in a decade, according to the paper.
The quixotic rise of golf in China—where Mao Zedong once lambasted putting as a bourgeois pastime—is the subject of a new book by the Asia Society’s Dan Washburn. In The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream, a charming and accessible work, Washburn follows the lives of three men whose careers are shaped by the sport: an American golf course designer who finds work in China, a budding Chinese tournament golfer, and a farmer whose land is converted into fairways.
via Building Golf Courses in China: An Illegal and Booming Industry – Businessweek.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
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