The border area in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has seen a growing influx of foreign tourists in recent months, most of whom are from neighboring Vietnam.
In Dongxing City that faces Vietnam's Mong Cai across the river, there is an endless stream of inbound visitors entering China through the China-Vietnam Friendship Bridge after the border crossing is opened at 08:00 every morning. The hall of the frontier inspection station is often packed with travelers waiting in line to go through the required border entry-exit procedures.
"Dongxing Port has received over 990,000 inbound passengers since the start of this year, which is more than ten times the number registered in the same period of last year," said Lyv Wei, a police officer at on Dongxing Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection Station.
Many of the crowds are tourist groups from Vietnam. Some are coming with family members and others with colleagues or friends.
"There are 23 persons in our tour group. The peak time for Vietnamese tour groups to come to China is from April to August," said tour guide Hoang Van, who leads a Vietnamese tour group.
Apart from traditional scenic spots, some commodities and cuisines with local characteristics are also appealing to foreign visitors. A local hot pot restaurant is very popular among Vietnamese tourists.
"We receive up to 220 Vietnamese tourists a day. We have also prepared some Vietnamese dishes for them. Our employees have grasped some basic Vietnamese phrases for daily communication," said Luo Sheng, the restaurant manager.
Tour operators in Dongxing are also benefiting from the surge in inbound tourism.
"The number of tourists in March was 30 percent more than the same period of last year. There have been more than a dozen tour groups every weekend," said Qin Shiping, manager of a local travel agency. The inbound tourist flow is expected to pick up further with the arrival of "Sanyuesan", a traditional festival for the Zhuang ethnic minority group that is celebrated on the third day of the third month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar with a two-day regional public holiday.
It's estimated that the three border crossings of Nanning, Youyi and Dongxing will register over 252,000 border entries and exits during the holiday, which will last for four days this year combined with the weekend of March 13-14.
Int'l tourist arrivals soar in south China’s Guangxi
