Prior to the great economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the Chinese did not have the political freedom (or the money) to travel within China, let alone beyond its borders. Someone in Guangzhou couldn’t just hop on a train and visit the Great Wall of China in Beijing, even if they had the money to do so.

Times have changed. And thanks to China’s breakneck economic growth that has raised incomes and new personal freedoms, the Chinese are visiting all the natural, religious, and historical wonders of their fantastic country as well as venturing out to the rest of Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security estimates that in 2006, 34.5 million Chinese traveled outside of China. To put that into perspective, only 4.5 million Chinese made it overseas in 1995.

Ctrip (Nasdaq:CTRP) is a lot like Orbitz or Expedia in that it provides online travel services such as hotel reservation, air-ticketing, and packaged-tour services.

There is one huge difference though: Ctrip has a semi-monopoly grip on the Chinese travel business!

Ctrip books more hotel and airline tickets than anybody else in China. And it has a whopping 57% market share.

It gets even better…

According to iResearch, only 1% of travel reservations were booked online in 2006. But that amount is expected to grow by 35% a year for the next several years.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

I am not suggesting that you rush out and buy Ctrip tomorrow. But I absolutely believe in its long-term story and strong fundamentals.

Best wishes,