At the special custom of "catching ducks on the water" of the Dragon Boat Festival in Anhai, Jinjiang, foreign tourists immersed themselves in novel and interesting Chinese folk activities. (Photo by Zhuang Lixiang)
At present, people from 54 countries can enjoy China's 72-hour or 144-hour transit visa-free policy, and they have promoted Quanzhou inbound tourism and told the world the real China with their personal experience.
Quanzhou.com, July 25 (Financial Media Reporter Zhang Nuanwen, Li Jing, Zeng Conghong, Zhang Junlin, Wu Lijiao) More than 700 years ago, Marco ·Polo, a "backpacker" who traveled around the world, came to China and witnessed the style of Thornton Port, the "largest port in the East". His travelogue sparked a fervent yearning for the Eastern countries throughout the Western world.
Hundreds of years have passed, and "China Travel" has once again swept the world's social platforms. As of this month, 54 countries have applied China's 72-hour or 144-hour transit visa-free policy, making it more convenient for foreign tourists to come to China.
In this boom, Quanzhou, the former city of Thornton and today's World Heritage City, has attracted modern "Marco ·Polo" with its splendid multicultural and modern achievements. In the first half of the year, 34,500 foreign tourists entered the country from Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport alone, and they recorded their personal experiences in Quanzhou with their cameras, allowing the world to see China's high-quality development and high-level opening-up.
United Kingdom young man "Yaya Adam" practices martial arts at Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou (video screenshot)
High-quality development, the popular "traffic password" of inbound tourism
In the traditional village of Wulin in Jinjiang, Andy and his friends from Spain were amazed by the oriental architectural aesthetics in the face of the pure and deep red and the flexible and gorgeous swallowtail ridges of the ancient houses in southern Fujian.
At the Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou, the United Kingdom boy "Yaya Adam" follows the warrior monk to learn the coveted Chinese Kungfu (Chinese kung fu).
In the central city of Quanzhou, Guo Chunman from Malaysia used the software just installed on his mobile phone to book attractions, take a taxi, scan the code to pay, and exclaimed: "China's degree of digitalization is very high, and people's lives are so convenient!" ”
In the past few days, walking in the popular scenic spots and streets and alleys of Quanzhou, foreign tourists can be seen taking pictures and experiencing Chinese culture from time to time.
According to data from Quanzhou Border Inspection Station, in the first half of this year, a total of 263,300 people entered and exited Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport, a year-on-year increase of 119.5%, which was 49.9% of the same period in 2019, of which 34,500 were foreign passengers.
Behind the enthusiasm of foreigners for "Quanzhou tourism" is China's high-quality development and high-level opening up.
The historical trend of openness and cooperation has pushed Quanzhou to become an "international port for business from all over the world". The Italy traveler Marco · Polo described the port of Thornton in Yuan Dynasty China as follows: "There are so many merchants and goods that it is almost difficult to believe. At that time, Quanzhou was trading with more than 100 countries, and was the world's marine trade center, a popular tourist city in the world, and a window for dialogue between China and world civilizations.
Now, China's visa-free "circle of friends" has been expanded, and policies such as the implementation of 72-hour or 144-hour transit visa-free for personnel from 54 countries have been introduced one after another.
"In recent months, I have been able to receive at least 3-5 foreign groups a month, which has never been the case before this year." Talking about the boom of foreigners coming to Quanzhou, Sun Wenting, founder of Quanzhou Angel Travel Studio, smiled: "In the past two days, I just took over a Malaysia team and arranged a two-day tour of Quanzhou for European merchants who came to Fujian to do foreign trade business. ”
It is reported that there are about three types of foreign guests who come to Quanzhou for tourism, one is "visiting relatives + traveling", the other is "work + travel", and the third is watching China-related short videos and film and television dramas and then checking in.
Quanzhou's economic development strength has provided strong support for building a "World Maritime Silk Road Multicultural Tourism Destination". Quanzhou's foreign trade import and export performance is eye-catching, and it has carried out trade exchanges with more than 210 countries and regions, and has increasingly close trade exchanges with countries built by the "Belt and Road". Overseas merchants have not only brought the growth of total import and export volume of foreign trade, but also the passenger flow of the cultural and tourism market. Up to now, Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport has resumed flights to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Singapore and other places.
Guo Shenyuan, a 78-year-old Malaysian Chinese whose ancestral home is Dongshi, Jinjiang, is deeply touched by the convenience of traveling to China today. Just a few days ago, when he returned to visit relatives in Quanquan after 53 years of moving to Malaysia, he brought back two Malaysian friends for the first time. Thanks to China's visa-free entry policy for Malaysia, the two friends entered the country "silky" and visited Kaiyuan Temple, Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum and Guochao Quanzhou Excellent Product Exhibition Center in Quanzhou, experiencing the charm of Quanzhou's ancient and trendy interweaving. "In the past, every time I came back, I had to apply for a visa two or three months in advance, but now when I go back to my ancestral hometown, it is already a trip to go." The old man sighed.
Foreign media people record the intangible cultural heritage stunt of Quanzhou string puppets (photo by Zhuang Lixiang)
A Holistic Look at Multiculturalism and Understanding China in Quanzhou
China's broad-mindedness and openness have made its long and splendid history and culture full of the characteristics of equality, order, diversity and inclusiveness. This is especially evident in Quanzhou, which is known for its multiculturalism, attracting more international friends to come to Quanzhou and learn about China.
“…… Thornton City, very vast...... The people are peaceful, love comfort and comfort, and love freedom. "Marco · Polo's Travels" details the traveler's immersive experience in Quanzhou. Seven centuries later, the in-depth experience of Chinese culture and the beautiful life of Chinese style is still the main purpose of foreign tourists' "China Tour".
Russia's short video blogger Jin Yumei can't wait to experience hairpin flower wai as soon as she arrives in Quanzhou (photo by Zhuang Lixiang)
Jin Yumei, a short video blogger from Russia, got to know Quanzhou through the world's popular Pupu female hairpin flower wai. This year, she came to Quanzhou to experience this "top-notch beauty" first-hand and was full of praise: "Quanzhou is now one of the hottest cities in China, and the hairpin flower circumference in the short video is very beautiful. After experiencing it in Quanzhou, I realized that it is more beautiful than in the video. ”
"Quanzhou trip" made Jin Yumei firm in her determination to engage in tourism, "In the future, I want to promote Quanzhou's characteristic culture to the Russian people and bring more Russia to travel to Quanzhou." "In that year, the Arabs sailed to the port of Thornton with exotic flowers and gave the fragrant flowers to the Pupu girl, and the hairpin flower circle came from this. A hairpin envelope has extended the power of cultural exchange for thousands of years.
In the Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, Guo Chunman was fascinated by the Nanyin pipa, and he carefully studied the scales of the Nanpa, and was impressed by the charm of Nanyin, a "living fossil of Chinese music history". "In Malaysia, local Chinese have formed many Nanyin associations. I also know that there are also Nanyin societies in other parts of the world, and Chinese culture has a huge influence on the world. ”
Foreign tourists visit Dehua and fall in love with the landscape of Quanzhou. (Photo by Zhuang Lixiang)
Foreign tourists are keen to visit historic sites, hike Qingyuan Mountain, take photos at Internet celebrity attractions, and taste special food, and the popularity of Chinese tourists' "root-seeking" tours continues to rise. Not long ago, Liu Xiaozhou, CEO of TripAdvisor (China), a world-renowned travel website, said that since 2023, the popularity of inbound tourism in Quanzhou has increased by 113% year-on-year when he participated in the Global Travel Merchants (Fujian) Conference and the tourism promotion activities of countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road. According to the website's forecast, Quanzhou's inbound tourism business will record a 47% growth this year.
On just one Tumen Street, Guandi Temple, Qingjing Temple, and Fuwen Temple "live next to each other"; In Kaiyuan Temple, 24 wooden carved dougong flying sky and hexagonal India religious mythological patterns carved on the stone pillars of India religion coexist harmoniously...... As an important starting point of the ancient "Maritime Silk Road", many exotic civilizations have followed the "Maritime Silk Road" to tread the waves and blend in Quanzhou. To this day, they still shine brightly in this thousand-year-old city, "explaining" Chinese culture to foreign tourists.
Nowadays, there are more and more foreign tourists on the streets of Quanzhou. (Photo by Zhuang Lixiang)
Breaking stereotypes The achievements of Chinese-style modernization have amazed "foreigners".
Walking in Quanzhou, you will see a long history and cultural monuments, as well as shared bicycles, e-commerce, mobile payment and high-speed rail. Foreign tourists really feel the achievements of Chinese modernization.
"Spacious, comfortable, safe and efficient, stable network and call signal, China's high-speed rail is fantastic!" Richards, a European tourist, is an experiencer of "Chinese speed", "It's so modern! ”
Singapore tourist Alice Li discovered Quanzhou through Weibo and planned a trip to Quanzhou. Before coming to Quanzhou, she specially made a "smart tourism" strategy, downloaded a variety of social, payment, taxi APP in her mobile phone, mobile payment APP has been bound to a bank card account, several taxi software has been "turned over and over" research, and also learned to use WeChat public accounts and small programs to book attractions. "We are traveling in a highly digital country, and it is best to learn life skills that Chinese are accustomed to!"
In the "China Travel" video on overseas social platforms, supermarket visits and shopping are one of the most popular themes, and there are hidden digital "Chinese consumption methods", including face payment at self-checkout counters, QR code scanning shopping in unmanned stores, and delivery personnel who constantly come to supermarkets to pick up takeaways.
The blogger "Alicia and Andy" is a multinational couple, Alicia is from Quanzhou and Andy is from Spain. Previously, the video they released related to Quanzhou received more than 100,000 likes on the whole network. This month, three of Andy's Spain friends visited Quanzhou. Chinese supermarkets are the most "shocking" to them, the variety of goods is beyond imagination, and the high degree of shopping convenience makes them keep holding their mobile phones to take pictures.
Quanzhou's precise "smart unlocking" method for the difficulties of inbound tourism allows foreign tourists to "check in" various scenic spots unimpeded.
The "Quanzhou: World Marine Commerce and Trade Center of Song and Yuan China" intelligent voice interpretation system was launched, explaining 22 World Heritage sites in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Hokkien. The local characteristic bus "Xiaobai" can stop at the beckon, and you can use the mini program to reserve a vehicle and pay the fare.
Safe, modern, clean, delicious, welcoming, and kind are the high-frequency words that foreign tourists come to praise for the city. The porcelain "Marco ·Polo Jar", which was brought to Italy from Quanzhou and crossed more than half the world, is still treasured in St. Mark's Church, and today, foreign travelers to China look at its modern payment environment, diverse cityscape and cultural life with the same stunning eyes.
After Andy, a Spain, came to Quanzhou and learned to make tea. (Video screenshot)
Sharing Immersive Experiences from "Hearing About China" to Spontaneous "Telling China"
The experience of visiting Quan is much beyond what the average foreign tourist has known about China in the past, and when they truly feel the Chinese culture represented by the contemporary Chinese way of life, it becomes a heartfelt act to record what they see and hear with their mobile phones and share Chinese stories with the world. The videos of these overseas bloggers have sparked a wider range of interest in traveling to China, and a grand cultural exchange and interaction has begun.
"Jasmine", a blogger from Marco · Polo's native Italy, often shares videos of "China Travel" on overseas social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. As a child, she met China with an ancient civilization in "Marco · Polo's Travels" and was full of curiosity about China. "If you want to see the real China, you have to see it with your own eyes." Jasmine came to China, came to Quanzhou, and recorded her personal feelings with video, "This is an incredible China, with a great history and great modernization. ”
A series of Chinese videos shot by foreign tourists in China have broken the information barrier and brought more people a real and new understanding of China. "Yaya Ya Adam" filmed 72 sphinxes in the Daxiong Hall of Kaiyuan Temple into the video, telling netizens all over the world about the diversity and inclusiveness of Quanzhou culture; When the Spain friends of "Alicia and Andy" met the performance of the Nanyin Society during a tour of the ancient acropolis of Shishi Yongning, they held up their mobile phones to share the charm of the millennium Yale with relatives and friends who had never been to China; Like young people around the world, Alice Li likes to check in Quanzhou's "Internet celebrity" attractions and taste delicious snacks, and she shares the trendy and fireworks with Chinese characteristics on social platforms.
"Quanzhou, China, I want to go too!" Under the video related to "China Travel", there are many such messages. Behind the videos of foreign tourists is the Chinese attitude of respecting diverse cultures and different values, and the spirit of Quanzhou city of inclusiveness, openness, friendliness and enthusiasm. Foreign friends have seen the unimaginable oriental power through the short video, and hope to have the opportunity to come to Quanzhou, come to China, and experience the diverse charm of Chinese modernization. "Thank you for this video, which gave me a real understanding of the charm of China. If one day I can go to China, it will be my honor. Netherlands netizen "Ryan" expressed his eagerness under a travel video about Quanzhou.
There is no distance between each other, and thousands of miles are still neighbors. In the past, "people from all over the city" spread the beauty of Thornton City to all corners of the world; In the future, Quanzhou, a world heritage city, will also invite friends from all over the world with a more open and friendly attitude. More and more foreign tourists are willing to change from people who "hear about China" to people who "tell about China", become credible, lovely and respectable witnesses of real China, and become participants in promoting the virtuous circle of mutual benefit and win-win between China and the world·China.
Editor in charge: Lin Rong