Chinese hunting park dreams of looser gun control

By Kitty Bu

YUQUAN, China (Reuters) - In a frigid forest in northeastern China, sub-zero temperatures and thick snow aren't enough to dampen tourists' enthusiasm for firing a few rounds at farm-raised animals let loose in the wild.

Yuquan International Hunting Field in Heilongjiang province draws more than 100,000 domestic tourists a year, many traveling thousands of miles to get their hands on a rifle or shotgun for the first time in a country where gun ownership is strictly controlled.

This is despite temperatures often straining to reach as warm as minus 20 degrees Celsius in the daytime, and snow heavy on the ground for six months of the year.

"Our country has very tight controls on gun ownership," said Wang Zengyu, Yuquan's manager.

The controls keep the tourists coming in, but also limit the business's prospects, the former hotel manager said.

"If we need to buy arms, have our guns fixed or renewed, we need to go to places that are designated by security authorities. It would be illegal for us to go through other channels."

Yuquan -- a 3,000-acre (1,200-hectare) reserve about 50 km (30 miles) from Harbin, Heilongjiang's provincial capital -- is hardly a sprawling wilderness, but it is the largest of China's few designated hunting parks.

Once common across China's vast countryside, private gun ownership has been effectively banned since the Communist Party swept to power in 1949, stripping farmers and hunters of weapons.