Xinhua Headlines: Allure of Spring Festival and new visa policy attract foreign visitors to see the real China

*China continued easing its visa policies in 2024 to boost openness and people-to-people exchange, allowing more foreign travelers and businesspeople to visit the country visa-free.

*Statistics released by Chinese online travel service giant Trip.com Group show that the volume of travel bookings from foreign tourists to China during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday grew by 203 percent compared to the same period last year.

*The new visa-free transit policy enables foreign visitors to see the real China -- advanced science and technology, a stable society and people's affluent life -- which is different from how the country has been portrayed by some Western reporting.

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- As the Chinese people are celebrating the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, they have been joined this year by an increased number of foreign tourists, who have come to experience Chinese culture following the implementation of a new visa-free transit policy.

Andrea Schmitt and her husband, a couple from Berlin of Germany, are among those foreign tourists.

The couple recently visited and marveled at the lanterns in the ancient Yuyuan Garden of Shanghai. They made online research on this traditional Chinese festival, the most important holiday in China, before they started their journey.

It is an occasion for family reunions, just like Christmas in the West, Schmitt said before noting that the festive atmosphere in China is different from what they had imagined it would be. The city is decorated with red lanterns and calligraphy couplets, and people everywhere are visibly happy.

The huge number of people has had the greatest impression on her, she said. Berlin has a population of about 4 million, while Shanghai is home to 25 million residents. In the streets, the couple has seen people in varying attire: fashionable dresses, cosplay costumes and hanfu, a traditional style of Chinese clothing.

The trip has enabled them to understand China better. "People there are free to follow their own preferences," Schmitt said.

China continued easing its visa policies in 2024 to boost openness and people-to-people exchange, allowing more foreign travelers and businesspeople to visit the country visa-free. Its latest move was an extension of its visa-free transit policy, which has permitted eligible foreign travelers to stay in the country for 240 hours without a visa.

Statistics released by Chinese online travel service giant Trip.com Group show that the volume of travel bookings from foreign tourists to China during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday grew by 203 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Tujia, a Chinese homestay booking platform, Shanghai's Spring Festival homestay reservations made by foreign tourists more than tripled from last year, and the number of homestays available for foreign guests was up by 30 percent, with many providing English services.

In Yangshuo County, a popular tourist destination in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region known for its karst mountains and picturesque rivers, Chen Ronghua owns the Giggling Tree, a boutique guesthouse. He has observed a notable rise in foreign visitors and attributes this surge to China's expansion of its visa-free transit policy.

"Even during November's off-peak tourist season, our occupancy rate remained around 90 percent," Chen said, adding that this year has seen an increase in Australian and European travelers, with most rooms for March already booked.

Chen often chats with his foreign guests and has given himself a name in English: Curry. During the Spring Festival holiday, he has infused his guesthouse with the spirit of the Chinese Lunar New Year and hosted a cross-culture New Year dinner.

"We brought together guests from different countries to share their traditions and stories," he said. "Visitors even had the opportunity to cook Chinese dishes themselves, creating a truly immersive experience."

Chen Xi, chairman of Guangxi Sunrise International Travel Service Co., Ltd. who has the English name Charlie, told Xinhua that the company has noted a 20 percent rise in inquiries from international travelers, particularly those from Europe and the United States, since the optimization of China's visa-free transit policy.

In 2024, Yangshuo received 363,400 inbound tourists, a 268 percent year-on-year increase, according to local authorities.

To enhance the travel experience for international visitors, a range of supportive measures has been introduced across China. The general exit-entry frontier inspection station in Guangxi, for example, has launched a 24-hour immigration management hotline for policy consultations and posted new signage to help foreign visitors navigate the station more easily.

"These initiatives are designed to ensure foreign visitors experience convenience and warmth from the moment they arrive," said Lyu Zhanjiang, deputy head of the general station.

With the 2025 Asian Winter Games just days away, the snow and ice in northeast China are poised to attract even more international tourists.

Airports in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, received 6,562 visa-free inbound tourists between Jan. 1 and 21, accounting for more than 75 percent of all international tourists during the period. The number of foreign tourists increased by 145 percent compared to the same period last year, with the majority coming from Russia, the Republic of Korea and Thailand.

German tourist Lukas Muller was inspired by a friend to visit Jilin Province.

"The visa-free policy is very convenient," said the ski enthusiast, who usually skies in Europe but wanted to try out the ski resort on the Changbai Mountain.

Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional new year, was added by UNESCO into its list of intangible cultural heritage in December last year.

Citing that move, Muller said that another purpose of his trip was to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. "My friends and I will experience Chinese New Year up close, including eating dumplings, putting up spring couplets, setting off fireworks, and many other customs I'm not familiar with yet," he said.

Although he hasn't wrapped up his trip just yet, he already plans to seek advice about other tourist attractions in China, as he hopes to take advantage of the new visa policy to come to China again.

Jilin boasts some of China's best ski resorts. The number of tourists visiting Jilin's Beidahu ski resort has surged 75.6 percent year on year this season, and its revenue is up 73 percent. And Vanke Songhua Lake Resort, another Jilin destination, has seen a 20.6 percent year-on-year rise in visitors, with a revenue increase of 19.3 percent.

Yao Hua, a sociologist at the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the new visa-free transit policy has played a positive role in boosting the recovery of China's tourism market, helped foreigners understand China better, and enhanced people-to-people exchange.

"It enables foreign visitors to see the real China -- advanced science and technology, a stable society and people's affluent life -- which is different from how the country has been portrayed by some Western reporting," he said.

"With the continuous deepening of this people-to-people exchange, more international guests will be attracted to see China for themselves and that will further enhance cultural exchanges."  Enditem

(Video reporters: Chen Aiping, Guo Yifan, Yang Shiyan, Zhao Jiale, Tang Siqi and Sun Lei; Video editors: Liu Yutian, Roger Lott and Wei Yin)■