Nearly 600 Chinese and international experts exchanged insights on cultural heritage and mutual learning among civilizations at the parallel forums of the 2026 Beijing Culture Forum on Wednesday.
The forums focused on key topics including international cooperation in cultural heritage protection, the preservation of ancient capitals amid urbanization, literary and artistic creation, and youth participation in cultural heritage preservation.
The participants included renowned scholars, representatives of world-leading cultural institutions, heads of major cultural enterprises, cultural celebrities and industry leaders.
During the forums, the importance of international cooperation in safeguarding global heritage emerged as a recurring theme.
"We are exploring how to serve modern needs while protecting the historical appearance and layout. After designating a large number of Beijing's courtyard houses as cultural relics, how to effectively protect them is something we are still exploring, and we have already developed some very successful experience," said Leonardo Castriota, vice president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites.
Experts also shared cutting-edge ideas and Beijing's practices regarding the holistic preservation of ancient capitals, organic renewal of old cities, and the dynamic inheritance of cultural contexts.
"We are exploring how to serve modern needs while protecting historical features and layouts. Regarding Beijing's numerous courtyard homes designated as cultural relics, we are currently exploring and have achieved successful experiences on how to protect them effectively," said Hou Zhaonian, former director of the Institute of Ancient Architecture under the Beijing Institute of Archaeology.
Wu Yanhai, head of the Department of Urban Planning at Tsinghua University's School of Architecture, emphasized the "living" nature of urban heritage.
"From the perspective of urban planning, urban and rural cultural heritage is actually a living heritage," Wu stated. "We must grasp the characteristics of human settlement. It is about how people can protect the heritage and how it can serve the people," he said. At the parallel forum, Beijing also released its Cultural Heritage "Double Hundred" Creation Plan, systematically promoting 100 literary and artistic works and 100 creation sites to showcase the city's top-level design and systematic layout for empowering artistic creation through cultural heritage.
Global experts explore heritage protection, mutual learning at Beijing Culture Forum 2026
Inbound travel to China has kept growing since the start of this year, as the country's adoption of travel facilitation measures, including expanded visa-free access, has made border entry easier for international visitors.
Foreign nationals made nearly 61.29 million border crossings in the January-August period, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest official data released Thursday. Visa-free entries accounted for 23.72 million of the total, or 77.6 percent, up 26.8 percent from a year earlier.
In Beijing, various ports in Beijing have seen an average of 15,000 border entries by foreigners each day since the start of September, up 20 percent from August's daily average. Notably, the figure topped 17,000 on Sept 7, setting a new single-day record for the year.
During the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival which starts on Friday and the week-long National Day holiday season starting on Oct 1, the number of border entries and exits through Beijing's airports is projected to reach 727,000. The Beijing Capital International Airport is expected to handle 547,000 entries and exits, or 54,700 per day on the average, while the Beijing Daxing International Airport is expected to handle 180,000, or 18,000 per day on the average.
To ensure smooth customs clearance, the Beijing General Border Inspection Station will open additional inspection lanes during peak periods to reduce travelers' waiting time. It will also maintain permanent multilingual advisory and guidance stations staffed by on-site officers, thereby improving passenger clearance efficiency.
East China's Shandong Province, one of the Chinese provinces closest to South Korea, is expected to see more than 190,000 border entries and exits by travelers, averaging over 8,000 per day, according to the Shandong General Border Inspection Station. Notably, the Weihai Shidao Port is expected to receive more than 3,000 tourist arrivals from South Korea, a marked increase in inbound group travel compared with previous years.
"I'm very interested in Chinese traditions, so I've chosen to visit Rongcheng in Weihai during the Mid-Autumn Festival to experience the holiday here firsthand," said Kim Kyung-nam, a tourist from South Korea.
In response to the overlapping passenger flows and the concentrated arrival of large tour groups during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the Shidao Border Inspection Station has worked out a specific duty plan including strategic deployment of personnel and the opening of all inspection lanes to minimize clearance times and maximize operational efficiency.
"We have set up border inspection and cultural tourism facilitation service posts, where on-duty officers will provide bilingual service for consultation and process entry formalities for tour groups, balancing efficient customs clearance with a human touch," said Li Nannan, head of a frontier inspection team at the Shidao Border Inspection Station.
East China's Jiangsu Province, with its rich cultural heritage and diverse cultural and tourism resources, attracts tourists from around the world. The Jiangsu General Border Inspection Station predicts that the ports across the province will process 110,000 border entries and exits and handle over 750 inbound and outbound flights and vessel voyages during the two holiday seasons. For outbound travel, Singapore, Thailand and other countries have emerged as popular destinations for mainland residents departing from Jiangsu's ports.
Tourist cities in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are top choices for Vietnamese tourists. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, efficient customs clearance services, and abundant border tourism resources, cross-border tourism between Guangxi and Vietnam is steadily gaining popularity.
According to the Guangxi General Border Inspection Station, the total number of border entries and exits through the four key ports -- Nanning, Guilin, Youyiguan, and Dongxing -- is expected to exceed 355,800 during this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday season.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday, is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, the festival falls on Friday, and the public holiday lasts three days through Sunday.
China's National Day holiday lasts from Oct 1 to 7 this year.
Inbound travel to China continues to surge as visitors seek diverse experiences
