The coastal city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province is witnessing a boom in tourism, driven by its cinematic charm and popular filming locations that continue to captivate moviegoers and travelers alike.
With its unique mix of historic European-style architecture and natural coastal beauty, the city has long attracted filmmakers and became the shooting location for many successful domestic films and TV dramas, such as "A Little Red Flower" (2021), "As Beautiful As You" (2024) and the military-themed movie "Operation Leviathan" (2025).
"We came here after watching the movie ["A Little Red Flower"]. The gorgeous sunset here serves as the perfect backdrop for couples like us to pledge our love to each other. I will never forget about this scene for the rest of my life," said a female traveler who recently visited the Taiping Mountain cableway with her boyfriend.
At the China Movie Metropolis in Qingdao, the country's first heavy industrial film base, tourists can experience the movie scenes and even taste the food that appeared in films.
"Tasting this dish reminds us of the TV drama series ["As Beautiful As You"] and is a way for us to pay tribute to our youth and our dreams," said a tourist dining in a restaurant at the base with her friend.
For fans of submarine action blockbuster "Operation Leviathan", a follow-up to the 2018 film "Operation Red Sea", the film's shooting location in Qingdao is a must-see place. Here, visitors can board the "Dragon Whale" submarine featured in the film and engage in a virtual deep-sea battle.
Official data showed that during the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 8, Qingdao's overall tourism order volume increased by 18 percent year on year.
Qingdao draws crowds with cinematic charm, booming coastal tourism
Qingdao draws crowds with cinematic charm, booming coastal tourism
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.
Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.
Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.
"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.
The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.
Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar
