BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — A bunch of Japanese vacationers welcomed the primary dawn of 2025 at a bit of the Great Wall in Beijing, observing a customary Japanese follow generally known as “hatsuhinode.” Their journey was made considerably simpler by China’s lately reinstated visa-free coverage for Japanese residents.
China waived visa necessities for strange passport holders from Japan and eight different international locations beginning Nov. 30, 2024, a transfer that was well-received by the tourism market.
Travel companies have reported a major surge in bookings for China excursions, with Japanese vacationers desperate to discover the cultural, historic and pure sights of their neighboring nation, particularly after the disruption of the pandemic.
According to Hankyu Travel International Co., Ltd., considered one of Japan’s largest journey companies, bookings for China-bound excursions between late November and late December surged by 427 p.c in comparison with the earlier month.
Shanghai has been probably the most well-liked locations for Japanese vacationers. After a flight of simply 2.5 hours, 82-year-old Masaatsu Kubo arrived within the metropolis in east China for the primary time, touring from his hometown in Takamatsu, Japan.
“My wife often travels to Europe and America, but this time, I must tell her to come to Shanghai as soon as possible. She’s already 79, and we can’t delay any longer,” he stated.
While cruising alongside the Huangpu River, Kubo could not cease admiring the dazzling evening views alongside the Bund. “I worked in Tokyo in my younger years, and Shanghai’s night view is just as magnificent as Tokyo’s.”
During their journey, Kubo and his group, composed primarily of aged vacationers, additionally leisurely explored the traditional Yuyuan Garden, loved conventional Chinese tea snacks and indulged in a crab feast at a widely known native restaurant.
Unlike first-time customer Kubo, Yuko Furuya, a fan of China’s big pandas, lately made her third go to to the nation. This time she got here with out making use of for a visa. “Now, I can fly to China anytime to see the pandas,” she stated.
“The visa-free policy is a major boon for panda fans in Japan, allowing them to travel easily and spontaneously,” stated Wang Jing, head of the Japan division at a journey company based mostly in Sichuan.
“We are seeing growing interest not just in Beijing and Shanghai, but also in destinations like Xi’an, Chengdu and Hangzhou,” stated Ouyang An, director of the China National Tourism Administration Tokyo Office.
The rising enthusiasm for journey to China amongst Japanese vacationers can also be backed by China’s more and more optimized tourism infrastructure, and extra tourist-friendly companies, resembling handy fee instruments. Furuya famous that in her go to to the Bifengxia panda base in Ya’an, Sichuan Province, she traveled by China’s high-speed rail, subway and taxis, and located the transport very handy.
The resumption of visa-free journey for holders of strange Japanese passports comes at a time when China is actively searching for to advertise inbound tourism, facilitate enterprise and people-to-people exchanges, and improve its international openness.
China’s National Immigration Administration on Tuesday introduced that China noticed 64.88 million cross-border journeys made by foreigners in 2024, up 82.9 p.c from a 12 months earlier. Among them, greater than 20 million inbound journeys by foreigners had been made visa-free, a year-on-year improve of 112.3 p.c.
“The visa-free policy is a practical way to build trust and understanding between China and Japan,” stated Chen Zilei, director of the Japan Economic Research Center at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.
“It also sends a strong message about China’s commitment to opening up and promoting people-to-people connections,” Chen added.
Data from Chinese on-line journey company Ctrip reveals that from Dec. 31, 2024, to Jan. 1, 2025, the general variety of inbound tourism orders in China doubled 12 months on 12 months, with orders for inbound tourism from Japan hovering by 145 p.c.
With worldwide flight routes between the 2 international locations working at 75 p.c of pre-pandemic ranges, airways and journey companies are optimistic that the visa-free coverage will additional increase cross-border exchanges and create extra enterprise alternatives.
The experiences shared on-line by early birds of the visa-free coverage additionally gave a lift to the China Travel pattern in Japan. Following the success of his earlier Shanghai content material in 2024, Japanese journey blogger Osada lately launched movies of his journey to Beijing. He explored Qianmen Street at evening, hiked the Great Wall, and visited Houhai, describing them as “unparalleled experiences.”
Commenting on considered one of his posts, a Japanese netizen wrote: “The kindness of the Chinese people moved me; they are so nice, I want to go to China.”