National Games boost tourism in Greater Bay Area in south China

As the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster in south China has seen a surge in tourism during the ongoing 15th National Games, Guangzhou -- the provincial capital city of the co-host province of Guangdong -- has initiated a series of characteristic activities and promotional offers, fueling a cultural and tourism wave of "traveling with the Games."

Jointly hosted by Guangdong Province and the neighboring Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions from Nov 9 to 21, this year's Games has pioneered to hold competitions in the three regions across the border.

Throughout the Games, many attractions in Guangzhou are offering free admission to registered athletes, coaches and referees with valid IDs and staff cards, while spectators at competition venues could enjoy ticket discounts with their IDs and event passes.

"With our IDs and staff cards, we can enter for free. And since our kid loves it, so we've taken him to Chimelong," said Ma Jun, a National Games staff member. During his off time, Ma and his family members came to Guangzhou to travel together.

"I want to see the koalas, but I have not seen them yet," said his son Ma Zichen.

During the Games so far, theme parks and scenic areas in Guangzhou have introduced all kinds of featured activities. The city has also released nearly one million free and discounted tickets, driving a travel trend combining sports with culture and tourism.

"Discounted tickets promote the attractions and encourage people to explore and learn more," said a tourist.

To meet the travel demand during the Games, travel agencies have launched "Travel with the Games" packages featuring Greater Bay Area landmarks, cultural experiences and local cuisine.

"We've added intangible cultural heritage dim sum cuisines onto the menu. Visitors can also enjoy Cantonese opera and local dishes during Pearl River night cruises. Martial arts culture and Cantonese cuisine culture experiencing programs have been incorporated into spectator travel packages. The farthest booking was from Xinjiang [more than 4,000 kilometers away]. A customer there purchased a package to Macao to watch a table tennis match," said Guan Jian, brand manager of the official travel agency ticketing operator.

The Games has delivered strong momentum to cultural and tourism spending in the host regions. Data show that during the event, air ticket bookings to Guangdong's Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai Cities rose 26 percent year on year.

National Games boost tourism in Greater Bay Area in south China

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