China's inbound tourism has continued to heat up as the "China Travel" fever thrives online and offline over the past few months, driven by a series of new policies rolled out by the Chinese government earlier this year which make it easier for foreign tourists to visit the country.
With the implementation of various visa-free policies, including unilateral and mutual visa exemption schemes as well as the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, China welcomed over 17 million international tourists in the first seven months of this year, representing a nearly 130 percent year-on-year increase. These foreign travelers were estimated to have contributed over 100 billion yuan (approximately 14 billion U.S. dollars) in consumption.
Meanwhile, as "China Travel" remains a buzzword on social media, the visitors who have been to China are actively sharing their experiences online. On TikTok, there are around 60,000 videos under the hashtag "China Travel". On YouTube, videos about traveling in China often rack up millions of views, encouraging more people to visit the country.
Paul Mike Ashton, an American social media influencer, posted his "China Travel" videos online and garnered a lot of attention. He even coined the buzzword “city or not city” based on his travel experiences in the country.
"I think there's so much in China that's incredible. Travel is such an amazing way for people to kind of subvert global narratives, to be able to actually experience a culture firsthand, to talk to people that are there. Be on the ground and really get to know things, I think, is always a healthy way for us to better understand each other internationally," said Ashton.
Moreover, to make travel easier for inbound foreigners, China has greatly streamlined its visa procedures. International visitors who qualify for the 144-hour visa-free transit policy can get a temporary entry permit from Chinese immigration officers in just about two minutes, as long as they have their documents ready and complete an arrival card.
"We've developed a system that allows us to know the number of international transit passengers from airlines in advance. This enables us to calculate the number of those applying for temporary entry permits. Then we could increase the number of service windows and channels accordingly to ensure smooth immigration clearance. We have promoted the use of electronic boarding passes for immigration clearance, and paperless clearance. Another improvement is the self-service printing of arrival cards for foreigners, who can print and fill in them in advance. So less time is needed in immigration inspection clearance," said Zhang Hao, an officer at Beijing General Station of Immigration Inspection.
For overseas travel groups, immigration inspection points in Beijing have set up a dedicated channel to help them speed up the customs process.
"We have been working with travel agencies in Beijing. They can come directly to our immigration inspection points in Beijing to receive groups. We have a special channel for groups, accelerating group travelers’ immigration inspection procedures," added Zhang.
Currently, China has expanded the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, which allows people from certain countries to enjoy six days of travel to select areas of the country without applying for a visa beforehand, to cover 54 countries and 37 ports.
China's visa-free entry attracts global tourists
