text: Foreign planes to land in China 's popular Guilin . BEIJING 1996-12-06 China 's tourist spot of Guilin in the southern region of Guangxi will open its airport to foreign aircraft , the Xinhua news agency said on Friday . An assessment group made up of the State Council 's Port Office , the Civil Aviation Administration of China , the General Administration of Customs and other authorities had granted the airport permission to handle foreign aircraft , Xinhua said . " The move is expected to give a shot in the arm to the economic expansion of Guangxi and southwest China as a whole , " the agency said but gave no further details . Guilin is well known for its mountain and river scenery and is one of China 's most popular tourist destinations .