"City is not City", "City is good", ...... Recently, many netizens have brushed this sentence. This meme comes from a foreign vlogger who travels to China, and when he chats with his family, he always asks, "City is not City". The so-called "City" can be understood as urban, foreign, and even a little "exciting", which is used to express the shock, happiness, and joy when seeing many scenes and phenomena. The mix and match of Chinese and English, coupled with the tone of "magical", made this word popular all over the Internet.
More and more foreign travelers are coming to China to experience China's "City", which is very different from the China that many foreigners have in their impressions.
Once, when it came to China, it may be the traditional and mysterious ancient oriental country, kung fu is synonymous, and the panda is the mascot, which seems to be incompatible with foreign and modern. Just a few years ago, the China in the minds of many foreigners was completely the "paradise" in Li Ziqi's video.
However, with the advancement of Chinese-style modernization, the speeding high-speed rail, robots that can deliver food directly to the room, new energy smart cars that fill the streets, and drones that can deliver food ...... The facilities and technological products of "City" have refreshed foreigners' perception of China. Both old and young, modern and traditional, both advanced technology and full of humanistic atmosphere, both international and local...... This is the real China, the complete China, and the living China.
Internationally, there is no shortage of phenomena that look at China through colored glasses and even smear China, but the facts cannot be hidden in the shadows forever. Just as two foreign bloggers unanimously wrote this sentence in the title of the video - "China is not what we expected", which caused widespread resonance.
Allowing more people to truly understand and experience China is inseparable from an open and inclusive environment and supportive policies. In recent years, from expanding the "visa-free circle of friends", we have continuously expanded the scope of countries to which the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy applies; to further meet the payment facilitation needs of foreign personnel coming to China, optimize the payment service environment, and ensure cash payment and credit card payment in addition to mobile payment; to improve the convenience of accommodation, relax the hotel stay restrictions for foreigners, and coordinate the network operation platform to open hotel English and other courses...... The continuous optimization of measures has opened its arms to the world, attracting more and more foreign friends to come to China and fall in love with China.
According to statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the number of foreigners coming to China increased by more than three times year-on-year; There were 1.988 million visa-free foreigners, an increase of 266.1% year-on-year. "China Travel" has become a trend, and many foreigners have become "Internet celebrities" in China.
In today's China, the most important thing may be "City", and what is needed is precisely the opportunity to be observed, experienced and felt by the world up close. We will always maintain an open attitude and inclusiveness, not only to provide more convenience and support for foreigners who come to China, but also to innovate channels and ways to tell Chinese stories well in a subtle way, so that more people can feel a colorful, intuitive and three-dimensional lovely China.
Source/People's Daily Commentary
Photo/Visual China
Editor/Zhao Rui
Review/Mingfang
Executive Producer/Qiao Hong