Only certain businesses at the Sun Moon Lake are benefiting from the large number of Mainland tourists visiting the crowd-pleasing destination.

Owners of smaller businesses are complaining that

with the heavy traffic flow on the weekends and with Chinese visitors who are limited to travel in tours, only the contracted stores and larger hotel chains are profiting from this money making opportunity.

Everybody stands together to take a picture, with Sun Moon Lake in the background. Almost every Chinese tour group to Taiwan will come here to see the scenery. They must see the lake in order to feel as if they have visited Taiwan. On the weekends, Sun Moon Lake is filled with many people and cars. Over half are Chinese tourists. Taking pictures, shopping, and riding on the lake's boats are a must for them. But although there is an influx in visitors, many stores aren't making money off of them. With the Chinese tour groups traveling together, the pier is packed with both Chinese and Taiwanese tourists. Thus, overall quality has diminished. Local business owners say tour groups only work with certain stores or large hotels. Small business owners can't even make any money. And, most Chinese tour groups only stop for a few hours, as their schedule is packed. This doesn't benefit local businesses. The problem is with the government's policy. Local leaders say if the government is willing to allow individual travel, maybe it could loosen the tour companies' grip on the industry. But finding a balance between policy and actual workings will be hard.