Travelers from Russian-speaking countries are increasingly visiting south China's island province Hainan, where they can conveniently enter the country under visa-free policy and find plentiful opportunities to engage with Chinese culture.
According to the provincial government, foreign passport holders from 86 countries can now enter Hainan without a visa, and travelers holding ordinary passports of 59 countries can stay in Hainan visa-free for a maximum of 30 days for purposes such as tourism, business, family reunions, and medical treatment. Among them, five have sizable Russian-speaking populations, namely Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan.
According to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports of Hainan Province, from January to October this year, Hainan recorded more than one million inbound overnight tourist visits, marking a year-on-year increase of about 30 percent.
Visitors from countries with Russian-speaking populations accounted for nearly 40 percent of the total.
Many stores in Hainan's popular tourist destination Sanya City have signboards in Russian, and some store staff can communicate with customers in Russian.
"To us, China doesn't feel like a foreign country at all. It is a very friendly country. We came here for vacation from Minsk, Belarus, and everything here feels wonderful. I'm very impressed by the hospitality of Chinese people," said a traveler.
Visitors from these countries are particularly interested in Chinese culture. A Sanya-based clinic featuring traditional Chinese medical treatment has been receiving a growing number of Russian-speaking patients.
Lilia, a Russian visitor, said Hainan's visa-free policy made it more convenient for her to travel to China for medical purposes.
"There are two direct flights from where I live to Sanya every week. Of course, the most important reason for coming to China is to receive traditional Chinese medical treatments, because they help us a lot. I will also recommend them to my relatives and friends so they can come for treatments too," she said.
Travel agencies in Hainan have been diversifying their services to meet the growing demand, with a particular focus on cultural offerings.
"Our travel routes have extended from Sanya to the nearby regions and we also have travel routes in Haikou (capital of Hainan). Recently, we have been increasing efforts to roll out products related to folk culture, because our customers are particularly interested in folk culture," said Zhou Lijing, director of the product department at the Hainan Saiaofei International Travel Agency Company.
Russian-speaking tourists visit Hainan for beach holidays, cultural experiences
Russian-speaking tourists visit Hainan for beach holidays, cultural experiences
Russian-speaking tourists visit Hainan for beach holidays, cultural experiences
