Officials on overseas tour to kick-start visits

A Shanxi official introduces the province's tourist attractions in Bangkok on April 10. [Photo by Zhao Lina for China Daily]

After restrictions on tourism were lifted following China's optimized measures for pandemic prevention and control in late 2022, Shanxi's tourism officials find their schedules are tighter than ever.

After intensive visits across the country in the earlier months of this year, they began overseas promotional trips this month.

The officials held a tourism promotional fair in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 14.

Wang Aiqin, head of the Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism, introduced Shanxi's major cultural and natural attractions to Malaysian guests. She said that Shanxi, with a history of more than 5,000 years, is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization.

"Shanxi is one of the provinces in China with the largest number of historical and cultural relics," Wang said. "And it is an exemplary province for the preservation of traditions, with many forms of ancient arts and crafts still alive today."

With such characteristics, Wang said Shanxi is a perfect place for tourists to study Chinese history and culture. She said Shanxi boasts a number of natural attractions, like those along the Yellow River and in the Taihang Mountains.

"And a unique feature of Shanxi's tourist resources is that they are a combination of natural wonders and cultural connotations, like the Yellow River and the Great Wall," the official added.

Before the event in Malaysia, Shanxi held a tourism promotional event in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 10.

As Thailand is a country with many Buddhists, the event highlighted Shanxi's Buddhist culture.

Wen Xuebing, chief representative of the Thailand office of Shanxi Cordial International Tourism, hosted the event.

He introduced many Buddhist cultural destinations in Shanxi. For example, Wutai Mountain, which is one of the top four Buddhist holy mountains in China and Yungang Grottoes, one of the top three Buddhist cave arts hubs in the country.

The Shanxi officials' tours of Southeast Asia began with a tourism promotional meeting in Singapore on April 8. It was one week after China announced the resumption of overseas exchange visits by Chinese delegations of culture and tourism officials.

During the event, Shanxi's officials held talks with their Singaporean counterparts. A Singaporean tourism company agreed to send tourists to Shanxi on June 1. They are to be the first Singaporean tourist group to Shanxi after a halt of more than 1,000 days.

Zhao Lina contributed to this story.