More than 700 years ago, Marco Polo, a backpacker who traveled around the world, came to China and witnessed the charm of the “largest port in the East”, the Port of Zaitun. His travelogue sparked a fervent longing for Eastern countries in the entire Western world.
The pointer of history has turned hundreds of years, and “China Travel” has once again exploded on social media platforms around the world. As of this month, China has achieved comprehensive visa free access with 25 countries and unilateral visa free access with 29 countries,54 countries have implemented China’s 72 hour or 144 hour transit visa free policy, making it increasingly convenient for foreign tourists to come to China.
In this wave of enthusiasm, Quanzhou, which was once known as Zaiton and is now a world heritage city, attracts modern “Marco Polo” figures with its brilliant multiculturalism and modernization achievements. In the first half of the year, there were 34500 foreign tourists entering through Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport alone. They recorded their personal experiences in Quanzhou with their cameras, allowing the world to see China’s high-quality development and high-level openness.
（Foreign tourists touring Dehua have fallen in love with the scenery of Quanzhou.）
High quality development：The popular “traffic password” for inbound tourism
In the traditional village of Wulin in Jinjiang, Andy and his friends from Spain were amazed by the Eastern architectural aesthetics when they faced the pure and deep red, dynamic and gorgeous swallowtail ridges of the Minnan ancient houses.
At Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou, a British young man named “Yaya Yaya” followed a martial monk to learn the coveted Chinese Kung Fu.
In the central urban area of Quanzhou, Guo Chunman from Malaysia used a newly installed app on his mobile phone to book scenic spots and take a taxi. He scanned the QR code to pay and exclaimed, “China’s digitalization level is very high, and people’s lives are so convenient
In recent days, walking through popular attractions and streets in Quanzhou, foreign tourists can occasionally be seen taking photos and experiencing Chinese culture.
According to data from Quanzhou Border Inspection Station, in the first half of this year, Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport port inspected a total of 263300 inbound and outbound personnel, a year-on-year increase of 119.5%, which is 49.9% of the same period in 2019. Among them, there were 34500 foreign passengers.
Behind the enthusiasm of foreigners for “Quanzhou Tour” is China’s high-quality development and high-level openness.
The historical trend of open cooperation has propelled Quanzhou towards becoming an “international port for merchants from ten thousand countries”. The Italian traveler Marco Polo described the Chinese port of Zaitun during the Yuan Dynasty as follows: “With so many merchants and goods gathering, it is hard to believe that there was such a thing.” At that time, Quanzhou, which traded with more than 100 countries, was the world’s center of maritime commerce, a popular tourist city, and a window for dialogue between Chinese and world civilizations.
Now, with the expansion of China’s visa free “circle of friends” and the introduction of policies such as 72 hour or 144 hour visa free transit for personnel from 54 countries, the flow of foreign tourists in Quanzhou has increased, and the prosperity of “People from Ten Continents in the City” has reappeared.
“In recent months, I have received at least 3-5 foreign delegations every month, which has never happened before this year.” Talking about the upsurge of foreigners coming to Quanzhou, Sun Wenting, the founder of Quanzhou Angel Travel Studio, smiled: “These two days, I just received a Malaysian team and arranged a two-day tour route to Quanzhou for European businessmen who come to Fujian to do foreign trade business.”
It is reported that there are approximately three types of foreign tourists who come to Quanzhou for tourism: one is “visiting relatives+traveling”, the other is “working+traveling”, and the third is those who watch short videos and movies related to China.
The economic development strength of Quanzhou provides strong support for building a “World Maritime Silk Road Multicultural Tourism Destination”. Quanzhou’s foreign trade import and export performance is eye-catching. It has carried out trade exchanges with more than 210 countries and regions, and has increasingly close trade exchanges with countries co constructing the “the Belt and Road”. Overseas merchants not only bring an increase in the total import and export volume of foreign trade, but also attract visitors to the cultural and tourism market. The enthusiasm of Southeast Asian Chinese for tourism in Quanzhou is high. As of now, Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport has gradually resumed opening routes to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and other places.
Guo Shenyuan, a 78 year old Malaysian Chinese with ancestral roots in Dongshi, Jinjiang, deeply feels the convenience of traveling to China today. Just a few days ago, when he returned to Quanzhou to visit relatives after 53 years of moving to Malaysia, he brought back two Malaysian friends for the first time. Benefiting from China’s visa free entry policy towards Malaysia, It’s very convenient for two friends to enter the country, visited Kaiyuan Temple, Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum and China-Chic Quanzhou Fine Product Exhibition Center in Quanzhou, and experienced the charm of ancient and new Quanzhou.”In the past, I had to apply for a visa two to three months in advance every time I came back, but now returning to my hometown is a spontaneous trip.”The elderly are very Feeling emotional
（British young man “Yayayaya Dang” is studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou.）
Overview of multiculturalism：Understanding China in Quanzhou
China’s broad mindedness and open mindedness make its long and splendid history and culture full of characteristics of equality, orderliness, diversity, and inclusiveness. This is particularly evident in Quanzhou, known for its multiculturalism, attracting more international friends to come to Quanzhou and learn about China.
“.. The city of Zaitun is vast… The people have a peaceful nature, love comfort and ease, and enjoy freedom. “Marco Polo’s travelogue records in detail the traveler’s immersive experience in Quanzhou. Seven centuries later, the deep experience of Chinese culture and the beautiful Chinese way of life remains the main purpose of foreign tourists’ “China Tour”.
Jin Yumei, a short video blogger from Russia, met Quanzhou through the globally popular women’s hairpin flower enclosure in Xunpu. This year, she came to Quanzhou to personally experience this “top-notch beauty” and praised it endlessly: “Quanzhou is now one of the hottest cities in China, and the hairpin flower circle in the short video is very beautiful. After experiencing it firsthand in Quanzhou, I found out that it is even more beautiful than in the video.
The “Quanzhou Tour” has strengthened Jin Yumei’s determination to engage in tourism. “In the future, I want to promote Quanzhou’s unique culture to the Russian people and bring more Russians to Quanzhou for tourism.” Once upon a time, Arabs sailed to the port of Zaitun with exotic flower varieties and gave fragrant flowers to the women of Xunpu, from which the hairpin flower circle came. A hairpin flower enclosure has continued the power of cultural exchange for thousands of years.
At the Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, Guo Chunman was attracted by the Nanyin pipa. He carefully studied the scales of Nanyin pipa and was impressed by the charm of Nanyin, which is a “living fossil of Chinese music history”. In Malaysia, local Chinese have formed many Nanyin associations. I also know that there are Nanyin associations in other parts of the world, and Chinese culture has a huge influence on the world.
Foreign tourists have fallen in love with the diverse Quanzhou region. They are enthusiastic about visiting historical sites, hiking on Qingyuan Mountain, taking photos at popular tourist attractions, and tasting local cuisine. The popularity of the “root seeking” journey for Chinese tourists continues to rise. Not long ago, Liu Xiaozhou, CEO of the globally renowned travel website TripAdvisor (China), visited Quanzhou to participate in the Global Traveler (Fujian) Conference and tourism promotion activities for countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road. He stated that since 2023, the popularity of inbound tourism in Quanzhou has increased by 113% year-on-year. According to the website’s prediction, Quanzhou’s inbound tourism business is expected to achieve a 47% growth this year.
On a short Tumen Street, Guandi Temple, Qingjing Mosque and Confucius Temple live adjacent to each other; In Kaiyuan Temple, 24 wooden carvings flying Apsaras and the Hindu mythical patterns carved on the hexagonal Hindu stone pillars coexist harmoniously… As an important starting point of the ancient “Maritime Silk Road”, many foreign civilizations once followed the “Maritime Silk Road” and came together in Quanzhou. To this day, they still shine brightly in this millennium old city, “explaining” Chinese culture to foreign tourists.
（At the Dragon Boat Festival special custom of “catching ducks on the water” in Anhai, Jinjiang, foreign tourists immersed themselves in the novel and interesting Chinese folk activities.）
Breaking stereotypes：Foreigners are amazed by the achievements of Chinese path to modernization
Walking in Quanzhou, one can see a long history and cultural heritage site, as well as shared bicycles, e-commerce, mobile payments, and high-speed rail. Foreign tourists really feel the achievements of Chinese path to modernization.
“Spacious and comfortable, safe and efficient, with stable network and call signals, China’s high-speed rail is amazing!This is so modern !”European tourist Richards is an experience of” Chinese speed “.
Singaporean tourist Alice Li discovered Quanzhou through Weibo and planned a trip to Quanzhou. Before coming to Quanzhou, she specially made a “smart travel” strategy, downloaded various social, payment and taxi apps on her mobile phone, bound the mobile payment app with a bank card account, researched several taxi software “over and over”, and learned to use WeChat official account and small programs to book tourist attractions. “When we travel in a highly digital country, we’d better learn the life skills that Chinese people take for granted!”
In the “China Travel” videos on overseas social media platforms, supermarket shopping and shopping are one of the hottest topics, hiding digital “Chinese consumption methods”, including facial recognition payments at self checkout counters, QR code shopping in unmanned stores, and delivery personnel constantly coming to supermarkets to pick up takeout.
Bloggers Alicia and Andy are a multinational couple, Alicia is from Quanzhou and Andy is from Spain. Previously, their videos related to Quanzhou received over 100000 likes across the entire network. This month, Andy’s three Spanish friends came to Quanzhou for tourism. Chinese supermarkets are the most shocking to them, with a variety of products beyond imagination, and the high level of convenience in shopping makes them constantly take photos with their phones.
Quanzhou’s precise “smart unlocking” method for the difficulties of inbound tourism allows foreign tourists to visit various scenic spots smoothly. The “Quanzhou: The World Marine Trade Center of Song and Yuan China” intelligent voice explanation system has been launched, providing explanations in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, and Minnan languages for 22 world heritage sites; The local specialty bus “Little White” will stop in front of you as soon as you wave your hand, and you can use the mini program to book a vehicle and pay the fare.
Safe, modern, clean, delicious, enthusiastic, and kind are the high-frequency words that foreign tourists like about this city in Quanzhou. The porcelain “Marco Polo jar” that crossed half the globe and was brought from Quanzhou to Italy is still preserved in the St. Mark’s Church. Today, foreign travelers to China look at its modern payment environment, diverse urban landscape, and cultural life with equally stunning eyes.
（The number of foreign tourists on the streets of Quanzhou is increasing.）
Share immersive experiences：From “hearing about China” to spontaneously “telling about China”
The tourism experience of come to Quanzhou,exceeds the general foreign tourists’ understanding of China in the past. When they truly experience Chinese culture represented by contemporary Chinese lifestyle, recording what they see and hear with their mobile phones and sharing Chinese stories with the world becomes a heartfelt action. The videos of these overseas bloggers have sparked a wider interest in traveling to China, leading to a grand cultural exchange and interaction.
Blogger ‘Jasmine’ from Marco Polo’s hometown of Italy often shares videos of ‘China Travel’ on overseas social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. In her childhood, she met China with ancient civilization inand was curious about China.” If you want to understand the real China, you must come and see it with your own eyes. “Jasmine came to China and Quanzhou, recording her personal feelings through video.” This is an incredible China, with a great history and even greater modernization.”
The Chinese videos shot by foreign tourists have broken down information barriers and brought more people a real and new understanding of China. Blogger “Yaya Yaadam” took 72 sphinxes in the the Shakya ManiHall of Kaiyuan Temple into a video, telling netizens around the world about the diversity and tolerance of Quanzhou culture; Alicia and Andy’s Spanish friends encountered a performance by the Nanyin Club while visiting Yongning Ancient Guard City in Shishi. They held up their phones and shared the charm of millennium classical music with their friends and family who had never been to China before; Alice Li, like young people all over the world, likes to visit the “internet famous” attractions in Quanzhou, taste delicious snacks, and share China’s unique trends on social media.
“I also want to go to Quanzhou, China! “There are many comments like this in videos related to” China Travel “. Behind the videos of foreign tourists is the Chinese attitude of respecting multiculturalism and different values, as well as the inclusive, open, friendly and enthusiastic spirit of Quanzhou city. Through short videos, foreign friends saw the great oriental country beyond imagination and hoped to have the opportunity to come to Quanzhou and China to experience the diversified charm of Chinese path to modernization. “Thank you for letting me truly understand the charm of China through this video. If one day I can go to China, it will definitely be my honor. “Dutch netizen” Ryan “expressed his fervent longing under a travel video about Quanzhou.
Knowing each other knows no distance, even thousands of miles are neighbors. Once, “People from Ten Continents in the City” spread the beauty of Citong City to every corner of the globe; 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 transform from “hearing about China” to “telling China”, becoming credible, lovely, and respectable witnesses of the real China, and becoming participants in promoting a mutually beneficial and win-win cycle between China and the world. On the cultural exchange link of “China Travel”, they are writing modern “Marco Polo” travelogues.（By QUANZHOU EVENING NEWS）
（Foreign media professionals document Quanzhou’s marionette performances.）