Published on : Wednesday, February 13, 2019
At the time of the “Charming Beijing” event, the locals of Munich experienced a Chinese welcome first hand, by taking part in the traditional Chinese crafts like delicate calligraphy, spectacular Peking opera face painting, and making their own paper lanterns. At Bucharest event, participants relished a similar show of Chinese folk pastimes, including an introduction to paper cutting – yet another sign for luck and happiness.
As the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year came to a conclusion, Shen Zhihong spoke for the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau in Munich, highlighting the rich history of Beijing. This is a very old civilization going back thousands of years, however now it looks to the future as an open and inclusive city, and an international city where history and modernity sit close together.
Between Europe and Beijing, the number of visitors moving has been on the rise over the last few years – Chinese people took over 70 million trips to foreign countries in 2018, up 15% in comparison to the year before. For Europeans, China is a top ten global travel destination – EU residents made around 2 million trips to China in 2016, and tourism from EU to China has tripled in the past ten years. Travel is getting easier: during the Munich event, Air China launched a new direct flight connecting Munich to Beijing, providing a nine-hour direct air bridge between the home of Oktoberfest beer halls and Christmas markets and the city popular for its Peking duck, dumplings and hotpots.
Tags: beijing tourism