Opinion | Some of China’s best cultural ambassadors are foreign vloggers
- Travellers taking advantage of China’s visa-free transit policies can help the international community get a balanced view of the country
According to data released by the National Immigration Administration, more than 14.6 million foreigners entered China in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 152.7 per cent. Among them, 8.5 million people entered China without a visa, accounting for 52 per cent - a year-on-year increase of 190.1 per cent. With the support of the visa-free transit policy, it is more convenient for foreign tourists to explore China.
I was impressed that a couple from Britain and Italy, on their YouTube channel, said that people in China completely blew them away because they “never expected anyone could be so lovely, so friendly, so helpful, so welcoming and so patient”, and “so nice”. It was the first time I had seen someone put so many kind adjectives together to describe Chinese people.
In a video posted to Douyin, a father from Britain said he took his son to see a dentist in China. He was shocked by how efficient and affordable it was to go to the hospital. He said the whole process, from the professional consultation and X-ray to his son getting the filling, took just a few hours and cost them 287 yuan (US$40).