You must have heard of"city bu city"(meaning city or not city), an internet buzzword(流行语) created by foreign blogger Baobaoxiong. It's used to ask if a place feels like a big, fashionable city.
Millions of foreigners like Baobaoxiong are visiting China and posting their travel videos. The visa-free transit policy (过境免签政策) plays an important role in this trend(潮流). Travelers from 54 countries can stay in China for up to six days without a visa as long as they have a travel document(文件) and a connecting ticket(联运机票) to leave.
The visa-free transit policy started in 2013. Back then, it allowed travelers to stay for 72 hours in seven different big cities in China. Now, travelers can stay for 144 hours in 41 places 19 across 19 provincial areas . It has attracted more travelers to China . In the first three months of this year, 266 percent more foreigners came to China through visa-free policies compared with the same period last year, according to the National Immigration Administration of China (国家移民)管理局).
△. Through this policy, more and more people get to see the real China
"This is the whole reason why we decided to come to China. We want to see exactly what it's like by ourselves, " said Irish YouTuber Luke in his online video. He thought Chengdu was unbelievably good, beautiful and modern totally different from what ho had heard about China from Western media.
Yuyuantantian, a new media account(账号) under China Media Group, looked at 100 China travel videos made by foreigners. It found foreigners used to visit famous spots like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. But now they prefer experiencing everyday activities like shopping at markets, riding shared bikes and joining square dancing in parks. These activities give foreigners a closer look at everyday life in China, said Yuyuantantian.