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
China's Shenzhou-23 astronauts have spent more than 80 days aboard the Tiangong Space Station, where they have advanced a broad slate of scientific experiments and operational training drills over the past week as the mission progresses steadily.
Last week, the three astronauts, namely Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, carried out multiple parallel space science experiments and tests, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The crew completed in-orbit electroencephalogram (EEG) tests and behavioral experiments for the microgravity intuitive physics project, examining how prolonged spaceflight affects astronauts' brain functional networks and their ability to form intuitive physical representations.
They also collected and processed blood samples for research programs including bone metabolism interactive regulation and space integrative omics, supporting studies on the changing patterns of the human skeletal, nervous and other physiological systems during long-duration spaceflight.
In addition, kinematic characteristic experiments were conducted to provide support for ergonomic design and evaluation.
In the field of psychological and behavioral research, the trio finished an emergency decision-making capability assessment and an in-orbit emotional state test, part of ongoing work to track changes in crew performance and mental status throughout long-term on-orbit missions.
Alongside scientific endeavors, the astronauts pushed ahead with scheduled in-orbit training and emergency drills to reinforce their operational skills and response readiness.
Footage from the orbital complex shows the crew honing their skills on the on-orbit teleoperation rendezvous and docking training system, practicing manual docking, teleoperated docking and manual evacuation maneuvers by operating translation and attitude control handles.
They also completed in-orbit medical rescue training to familiarize themselves with rescue procedures and force application characteristics in a microgravity environment.
Furthermore, the crew carried out the second full-system pressure emergency drill, further consolidating their emergency handling capabilities and improving space-ground coordination efficiency.
China launched the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship on May 24. The mission includes a one-year in-orbit study designed to gather data for future long-duration human space missions.
China's Shenzhou-23 crew advance space science experiments, in-orbit training
