Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, visited the Orsay Museum with Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday.
Brigitte Macron warmly welcomed Peng at the gate of the museum. The wives of the two heads of state entered the museum to appreciate the "Paris 1874 Inventing Impressionism" exhibition and the museum's masterpiece oil paintings.
The two stopped from time to time to appreciate Impressionist classic works by Claude Monet, Van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and other famous painters, and exchanged feelings.
Noting that both the Chinese and French people love painting very much, Peng expressed her hope that the two sides could carry out more exchanges so that the two peoples could feel the charm of each other's cultures and deepen mutual understanding.
Peng expressed the hope that artists of the two countries will strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, and inspire each other to create more exquisite works of art.
In the hall of the museum, the wives of the two heads of state had cordial exchanges with French students who were visiting and studying there.
The students shared their experiences of learning Chinese and expressed their love for Chinese culture. Peng encouraged them to work hard to learn Chinese well, and take opportunities to study in China, walk around and take a look, so that they can get a true and multi-dimensional view of China.
Peng said she hopes that the students will become little envoys of China-France friendship and build a bridge of communication between the people of the two countries so that China-France friendship will be passed on from generation to generation.
Founded in 1986, the Orsay Museum is a national museum of France, possessing the richest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artworks in the world.
Peng is accompanying President Xi on a state visit to France.
Peng Liyuan, French first lady visit Orsay Museum
The bustling Xiushui Business Street (Silk Street) in Beijing is experiencing a significant surge in visits paid by international tourists, thanks to the country's implementation of visa-free policy.
The business street, known for its array of shops selling a wide range of souvenirs and gifts and a vibrant shopping atmosphere, is among the top destinations for visitors from abroad.
Since earlier this year, China has implemented a visa-free policy that exempts many European ordinary passport holders from the time-consuming and costly obligation, encouraging travelers from nearly a dozen European countries to explore this Asian country. It allows ordinary passport holders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg, to enter and stay in China visa-free for up to 15 days for business, tourism, transit, as well as visiting relatives and friends .
Against such a backdrop, the business street, with a spike in international tourist arrivals, has offered popular options with distinctive Beijing features to foreign visitors.
"From January to April this year, the combined number of overseas tourists we received was expected to increase by nearly 20 times from the previous year. We've selected a batch of souvenirs that can represent Beijing for our customers, so as to make each and every of them happy," said Dong Qing, an employee of the business street.
Ibeku hailing from Nigeria was on a business trip to Beijing. She came to the business street to tailor a suit of Nigerian traditional costume with Chinese silk.
"First of all, I love fashion. So if we have Chinese silk [and] Nigerian style [together], that's like a mix of cultures, and that's what we are all hoping to get this day," she said.
Taking into account the tight schedule of foreign customers, many merchants reduce the time it takes to craft bespoke garments from the traditional four to five days down to an impressive 18 hours.
Furthermore, they also provide global mailing services for international customers who express concern about limited luggage space or tight travel schedules.
According to data released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the capital city received 469,000 inbound tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year, up by 3.1 times year on year, and the foreign exchange income of tourism is 650 million U.S. dollars, a year-on-year growth of 225.8 percent.
Xiushui Business Street thrives with influx of foreign tourists under visa-free policy
