The small and exotic country of Liechtenstein can rent out the entire country

Liechtenstein is a small wealthy country known for its beautiful Alps, tax havens and the world's top living standards. This small mountainous country that still maintains a constitutional monarchy to this day has an unusually high level of national income despite its small land and sparse population, with a per capita GDP of up to 60,000 euros. The country began to issue stamps in 1912. Stamps from various countries are famous and are also an important source of national finance. In April 2011, the country planned to launch a "National Rental Plan", which could rent the entire country for US$70,000 for one night.

Apart from the Vatican, the small country most known to China is Liechtenstein. Although it is not very well-known compared with other European countries, and many people would not be able to remember its name if they didn't read it, among the foreign tourists who have visited this country in recent years, China may have become the first in terms of number. It is a different country: it has sovereignty but no diplomatic rights, and no army. It is so small that it will accidentally leave the country after a meal. Although it is small, it still requires visas and border inspections. Philatelic enthusiasts and dentists are all too familiar to it, and its name is associated with stamps and false teeth.

Without a visa, I encountered border inspections. After crossing Austria from east to west along the Alps, I came to the border of the small country of Liechtenstein and stayed in the Austrian border town of Feldkirch. I planned to spend most of the next day visiting the small country. In fact, when I visited Bregenz on Lake Bodenz in Austria two years ago, I had planned to visit Liechtenstein. Unexpectedly, the bus stopped on the weekend and did not make it. Only now did I have the opportunity to visit this small country.

It is a quick bus ride from the Austrian border town to reach the border of this country. In my experience, small countries such as the Vatican and Monaco, which are also non-Schengen members, do not have border checkpoints at all. But when I came here, I found that there were not only border checkpoints, but also a man in uniform stopped the bus to check his passport and visa. I was sitting in the car door, and the first thing was to check me. I don't have a visa from Liechtenstein, so I don't know if I will be refused entry. Liechtenstein has not yet joined the Schengen Treaty. The United Nations defines it as a Western European country. After the border inspection officers saw that I had a Schengen visa, they returned my passport to me and did not check anyone else. This was just a random check.

I was suddenly lucky that I didn't come two years ago. At that time, Switzerland had not yet joined the Schengen Treaty. I would definitely be refused entry if I only had a Schengen visa. Now that Switzerland has joined the Schengen Treaty, Liechtenstein's diplomatic rights are exercised by Switzerland. Although it is not a Schengen member, perhaps you can enter Liechtenstein with a visa that allows you to enter Switzerland.

A bought country, Liechtenstein, is now a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Liechtenstein Dynasty, but in fact the Liechtenstein family is not the owner of this land. They live in distant Lower Austria and have no kinship or ruling relationship with the people living here. The Liechtenstein family owned the Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria since the 12th century. Later, it expanded its power in Moravia, which is now the Czech Republic, and acquired a large area of land, much larger than the current Liechtenstein. However, since these lands were granted by other aristocrats through the Habsburg fief system, no territory directly belonged to the name of the Liechtenstein Dynasty. Therefore, the Liechtenstein Dynasty was not qualified to have a seat in the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Liechtenstein family wanted to find a piece of direct land that was not under the name of the feudal aristocrats. In 1699, they were finally able to purchase two fiefs from Count Hohenems, and in 1712, they bought the title of Count of Vaduz and changed the place to the Duchy of Liechtenstein. In this way, they would have a seat in the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire. The establishment of such a duchy was not to rule, but to prove this point for his family's status in the Holy Roman Empire. The family did not set foot in the country for 120 years after its founding, and still lives in Lower Austria and Moravia. Anyone who has been to the Czech region of Bohemia and Moravia knows that there are many castles and land there that originally belonged to the Liechtenstein Dynasty.

Under the influence of the concept of a sovereign state in modern international law and the changes in the world pattern after World War II, the Czech Republic announced the recovery of these large areas of land and castles on its own soil that originally belonged to the Liechtenstein Dynasty. The Grand Duke of Liechtenstein still claims sovereignty over these lands and demands that the Czech Republic and Slovakia return the occupied territories.

It was not until 1938 that the Liechtenstein family lived here for the first time. Hans-Adam II, the current Grand Duke of Liechtenstein, became the country's first head of state to live in his own country.

The two most famous things: stamps and dentures. There are countless cruel wars in history over territory and annexing other countries. However, the Liechtenstein family has a country that they don't rule elsewhere but are happy to live in someone else's country. Although most of the land and castle have been taken away and have to reluctantly return to his own country, he still doesn't care.

The current Archduke of Liechtenstein called for a referendum in order to gain power over other constitutional monarchy in the world, not to become an autocratic king) and told his people: If the referendum result is not satisfactory to me, I will go home. He was referring to his family's traditional territory in Lower Austria, which is indeed a bit childish. However, they did not expect that the citizens would meet the king's requirements with a support rate of 64% in order to keep their king. This is also rare in the world.

Liechtenstein is most famous in the world for its stamps. There is a Postal Museum on the Vaduz Pedestrian Street, which displays many stamps issued in history and reflects how postmen rode bicycles to deliver letters on rugged paths in the Alps.

Dentures and dental materials are world-class strengths of this country. It is said that the soil here is very special and only they can make the world's best dentures and precision ceramics. This soil is almost exhausted. There will be no such good dentures in the world. People who want to put dentures in Liechtenstein had better put them quickly, but I don't see any products showing this on the market.

Liechtenstein is a narrow and elongated country. The capital, Vaduz, is located on the edge of the Alps. The king's palace and castle are located on the middle of the mountain overlooking the small land in the Rhine Valley. Behind the mountain is Austria. Just 1.5 kilometers west from the pedestrian street in Vaduz, I came to the Rhine River. Looking back at the beautiful castle of the Archduke of Liechtenstein on the hillside, it seemed simple and imposing. It was the most spectacular building in the country.

The upper reaches of the Rhine River, which is still a mountainous river, is blue-white, and on the other side is the land of Switzerland. A covered wooden bridge that is common in the Alps connects the two countries. There are no border checkpoints here. Switzerland takes care of Liechtenstein like a big brother. Is there any border inspection needed to visit the big brother? On both sides of the river, it was quiet except for the sound of the wind blowing on the trees. A young man and woman who had just rode across the bridge gracefully reminded people of life in the past. There were fresh horse dung left by them on the wooden boards of the covered bridge, giving off a unique flavor. I walked across the covered bridge to Switzerland. This was the first time I set foot on Swiss soil. I will really start my trip to Switzerland tomorrow. I will return to Austria. After traveling to a small country for a long time, although I didn't see anything worth seeing, I believe no one will regret coming to Liechtenstein.

The most visited countries are China buses traveling along the winding road of Liechtenstein in the hilly area on the south side of the Alps. Many roadside houses along the way are scattered rather than forming villages. There are large open spaces between houses for gardens and planting. The beautiful houses and quiet residents show the prosperity of local people's lives. Modern factories can be seen far and near, but skyscrapers are not seen in the entire country. This country is only 160 square kilometers wide and has a population of only 350,000 people. Although it is small and has few people, the per capita GDP is nearly 140,000 US dollars, or nearly 100,000 euros, which is many times that of China.

The capital, Vaduz, is a small town of only 5000 people. There are no beautiful buildings, let alone high-rise buildings. There are only two main streets, one is the country's main highway and the other is a pedestrian street. Tourists are basically concentrated in pedestrian streets. Although I was the only China on the bus I took, I found that most of the pedestrian street were China as soon as I got off the bus. China was spoken one after another. Mandarin, Cantonese, Beijing accent, and Sichuan dialect could be heard. When I entered the tourism information desk, I was all China. The receptionists all spoke Chinese, and many of the information was also in Chinese. The small Vaduz turns around in less than half an hour. No matter which street you are on, you can see that the most tourists are China. China people are often heard saying on the street: "That Rolex watch is only converted to RMB 30,000. It's not expensive." Because it is close to Switzerland, China people are very concerned about Rolex watches. In fact, Rolex watches are not the best watches in the world.

Why do so many China come to Liechtenstein? In fact, it is easy to understand that all travel agencies that organize multi-country tours in Europe will include Liechtenstein in their itineraries as long as they travel to nearby countries, because it only takes a few more hours to add another country. The cost is low and the time is less, but the number of countries is less to visit. This just satisfies the travel agency and satisfies the wishes of the Chinese people. For me, it is also inevitable. Who doesn't want to visit one more country without spending much money? Therefore, the smaller the country, the more people will come.

[Travel Tips] Visas: Liechtenstein is not a member of Schengen. Its diplomatic rights are exercised by Switzerland. A visa that can enter Switzerland can enter Liechtenstein. Switzerland is now a member of the Schengen Treaty, so you can enter Liechtenstein with a Schengen visa issued by any Schengen member state. At present, Schengen visas from France, Germany, Italy and other state-owned offices in Guangzhou do not require interviews. As long as the conditions are met, it is relatively easy to apply.

Transportation: It only takes half a day or a day to visit Liechtenstein. It is located halfway between Austria and Switzerland. It is just a place to stop by when visiting other countries. The nearest international hub airports are Zurich, Switzerland and Munich, Germany. If you live in the Austrian border town of Vrdkirch, you can rent a bicycle to tour Liechtenstein in one day. There are buses from Vrdkirch and Bregenz in Austria to Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. From Germany, you can transfer buses via Bregenz in Austria. You can take trains from Zurich in Switzerland and Innsbruck in Austria.

Full-time self-help travelers take traveling the world as their life goal. After many long-distance trips in the past 10 years (excluding China), most of the goal of traveling around the world independently has been achieved without any assistance. It has traveled to 55 countries and nearly 500 cities and scenic spots on 5 continents, and has published more than 1400 scenic spots including more than 250 museums. It has published more than a dozen travel guides and travel notes. Since the goal has not yet been fully achieved, the journey continues.