Welcoming the world

Noel Su Nuoyi, a Spanish social media influencer with over 3 million followers on short-video platforms like Douyin, says an unexpected encounter with an android charmed his mother when she visited China following its recent visa relaxations for inbound visitors.

"We were in a hotel in Shanghai, and we ordered something, and then it came. A really cute robot brought the food, and my mom opened the door, and she was (in shock). She was like: 'How do I do this? What's this? What's going on?'

"I showed her how to take out the screen, and she took out the meal. Then, the robot left, and my mom closed the door. She came back to me and was like: 'Can we order something more? I want the robot back.'"

She snapped a photo with the android the next day.

"I think that's also a cultural difference because we're living here, and we're used to that. We see robots, we see technology everywhere. But for my mom, she came from Spain, she was shocked to see how technology is in our daily life here," he says.

Su Nuoyi joined a recent Embracing Cultures salon hosted by China Daily that examined how travel to China has become more accessible to international visitors as the country has appreciably relaxed visa policies. That is, while also undertaking corresponding measures to make travel easier after arrival.

These led to a sixfold increase in arrivals last year compared with 2023, China Odyssey Tours president Zhou Xiaoguang says.

Source countries fueling this growth include Southeast Asian nations like Singapore and Malaysia; as well as European countries, including Italy and Spain. Zhou expects more visitors from France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand this year.