I visited Hallstatt this year, actually, in January. Absolutely a gorgeous little town, but they ask insane money for every move. None of us liked that. Only one parking lot in the town, and they charge something like 20€ per hour for parking. No toilets to go, unless you pay 2Eur to take a leak.
We ended up spending 45 minutes in the town and then left to eat somewhere else. Otherwise beautiful, got some great photos as well.
Yes, it's expensive there, unfortunately, but the last time I was there, the parking lot didn't cost that much... A typic ailment of small towns besieged by tourists. Most Asians there, the first time I was in Hallstatt there were more of them than all the other tourists combined.
I noticed that yeah, a lot of Asians were there. I guess everybody who travels there from Asia, Google searches for the most famous tourist spots, and they find this.
You're probably right! I don't know if you knew, but the Chinese even built a replica of Hallstatt in Luoyang.