Therapeutic tourism has become trendy vacation for foreign tourists in south China's Sanya City with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) favored as the best-chosen therapy, which lure growing streams of tourists for relaxation, refreshment and rehabilitation.
Inbound tourism has been recovering in Sanya since the resumption of international flights in July 2023 following the pandemic waning.
Additionally, the loosening restrictions of visa policies in Hainan has also contributed to the surge of inbound tourists.
Hainan, a popular tourist destination known for its rain-forests and vacation beaches, has expanded its visa-free policy for citizens from 59 countries.
Like many tourist attractions, TCM clinics in Sanya have also witnessed a notable increase in the number of international visitors.
In some clinics, foreign visitors even account for as much as two-thirds of the total number of patients.
"We come from Russia. My waist hurts, but after receiving treatment here for four days, I'm feeling a bit better. Now, it's convenient to come to Sanya due to the visa-free policy," said a tourist from Russia.
To enhance the convenience of medical services for international visitors, certain TCM hospitals and clinics in Sanya have implemented measures such as offering translation services and accepting foreign card payments through POS machines.
"We have established a treatment department specifically designed to cater to the needs of foreign visitors. This department offers translation services in both English and Russian, making it easier for them to receive treatment," said Sa Ren, deputy head with Sanya International Friendship Sanatorium of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
In the first half of 2024, Sanya received a total of 319,800 overnight inbound tourists, spending a total of 225.41 million U.S. dollars, according to data from the department of tourism, culture, radio, television and sports in Sanya.
Therapeutic tourism becomes trendy vacation for foreign tourists in Sanya
Members of the Shenzhou-19 crew aboard China's Tiangong Space Station successfully completed their second series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) at 01:12 (Beijing Time) on Tuesday, after performing multiple tasks including the installation of space debris protection devices and an extravehicular inspection.
Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze worked for over eight hours to complete the tasks, with Cai and Song undertaking spacewalk duties. They were assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth.
Song stepped out of Tiangong's Wentian lab module at 16:55 on Monday. Cai exited the module about two hours later to join Song on device installation tasks. Meanwhile, Wang stayed in the station's core module to provide support.
"The primary task is to install debris protection devices outside the module to safeguard its external cables from debris impact. Given the increasingly severe risk of space debris collisions in the orbital environment, we have carefully selected appropriate materials and made specialized designs. Additionally, the protection devices are designed to be easily and securely installed on the exterior of the space station, ensuring effective protection," said Li Zhihai, an aerospace engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
During their previous extravehicular mission in December, the Shenzhou-19 crew primarily installed protective devices for the external pipelines and cables of the Tianhe core module. Their second spacewalk put a focus on strengthening the Wentian lab module.
"Since the operational area for this mission differs from the previous one, the entire path planning process for the robotic arm must take into account the specific conditions around the Wentian module. It is essential to avoid any interference or collisions with the module itself or its solar panels. This requires maintaining a safe distance, which necessitates optimization in the design phase on the ground, along with extensive testing and validation," Li said.
The crew has completed all tasks smoothly and the two astronauts conducting the EVAs have returned to the Wentian lab module safely.
"The astronauts showed exceptional efficiency and speed throughout the entire process, and all installations were done perfectly," Li said.
The Shenzhou-19 crew have completed nearly half of their space journey and are scheduled to carry out a significant number of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Shenzhou-19 crew strengthens Tiangong station's debris protection in second spacewalk