Destinations of attraction

With visa-free policies and optimized measures, international travelers are flocking in greater numbers to China, Yang Feiyue reports.

Anna Bondarenko, from Russia, had a blast in Tianjin in mid-September. The woman in her 20s explored what the northern city has to offer — taking a ride on the giant Ferris wheel Tianjin Eye, which is 110 meters in diameter and equipped with 50 carriages, while experiencing traditional Chinese opera and enjoying local gourmet cuisine.

"It's breathtaking to see the city's landscape from the Ferris wheel. It's also fun interacting with the opera artists and trying the makeup," she says.

Having studied business administration in Shanghai for almost two years, Bondarenko has traveled to several places around China.

"I love traveling in China to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai and smaller destinations like Zhuzhou and Changsha (in Hunan province).I think every city has its distinctive vibes," she says.

As she shares her travels around China on popular social media platforms like Instagram and Xiaohongshu, she finds that many of her 30,000 followers are amazed by the diversity of the country's tourism resources.

"They leave comments like how Suzhou, Jiangsu province, looks like Venice while having unique characteristics," says Bondarenko.

Her family has also been fascinated by China's history and culture, coming to visit her multiple times.

"My brother has started to learn Mandarin after he visited me in Shanghai several months ago," she says.

Bondarenko is among more than 100 travel influencers from across the world who were invited to attend the Global Traveler (Tianjin) Conference in the municipality in mid-September.

The event was hosted by major domestic travel agency Trip.com Group and global travel review platform TripAdvisor, which sought to boost the country's culture and tourism industries.

The goal was to have the attendees record and share what they saw in the country and continue to fuel the "China Travel" craze, which has become a buzzword on overseas social media where an increasing number of international travelers have posted photos and videos that offer fresh perspectives of the country.