FOREIGNERS are now welcome to camp at Dongping National Forest Park on Chongming Island, the park director said yesterday.

Shanghai Daily reported last week that the 3.55-square-kilometer park operated a “Chinese only” policy for campers, after it emerged that a British tourist was turned away from its campsite.

At the time a Chongming County spokesman said this was because the park does not have the technology to register foreigners staying there with police, a requirement under Chinese law.

But yesterday park director Huang Jiansheng said foreigners are now welcome to pitch their tents — provided they bring their passports.

Armed with those, they can register at the nearby police station in Jianshe Town before arriving or park staff can help them after they get there, said Huang.

“They can register themselves at the police station in Jianshe Town, which is three kilometers from the park, before coming to us, or we’ll photocopy their passports and send the copies to the police in their behalf,” he said.

Chinese tourists show their identity cards at park campsites to register their stay with the police, he added.

Huang said part of the problem before had been confusion over licensing.

He explained that staff had turned foreign campers away because they considered their camping service as a hospitality business but don’t have a city tourism bureau license for hotels which cater for overseas tourists.

“In fact, there are no clear regulations as to whether foreign visitors can camp in a park, and as police never gave us a definitive answer, we decided to stay on the safe side,” he told Shanghai Daily.

Police have now clarified this, Huang added.

“We know there’s good business in having foreign visitors at the campsite, and we regret that we didn’t open our doors to them earlier,” he added.

The new rules apply to both the Barbecue Camping Base and RV Camp, said Huang.

The Barbecue Camping Base can accommodate up to 500 tents designed for two to three people, while the RV Camp has space for 90 recreational vehicles with room for up to five people.

Huang said the campsites are usually fully booked on weekends and the golden week holidays in May and October.

However, it appears that registering is not required at all city campsites.

Management at the camping and barbecue site at Dishui Lake, a 5.6 square kilometer lake in Lingang New City in the Pudong New Area, told Shanghai Daily they don’t require foreign campers to register with the police.