On November 2nd, 2021, Association For Tourism Exchange Across The Taiwan Straits (ATETS) hosted the 2021 “Beautiful China” Online Promotion. Two sides discussed their same origin and the new chapter of tourism communication and cooperation for a new chapter.
Zhang Xu, president of the association, gave an online speech. He said that after the year 2020, we held the “beautiful China” online promotion again and expected that both sides would spend concerted effort to start a new chapter of cultural and tourism communication and cooperation. He believed that through the event, people living in Taiwan could have a stronger feeling that we had been developing from the same origin and had been connecting to each other form the bottom of our hearts, so we needed to work hand in hand to promote outstanding traditional Chinese culture and build a common spiritual home. The association would always follow the “1992 Consensus” and implement cultural and tourism policy to benefit Taiwan. The goal was to improve the welfare of people living in both sides of the strait, to support people in Taiwan to seize opportunities of the construction of a new development structure in the mainland of China; to push forward the peaceful development of the cross-strait relationship and to inject inexhaustible force into the rejuvenation of Chinese nation.
Guests from Taiwan, including Lai Sezhen, president of a council of the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association said in her speech that she thanked the association to hold the “beautiful China” online promotion association again. They said that the promotion was an introduction and a review of the latest tourism element of the cultures of the Yangtze River and of the Yellow River. It not only reminded audience, but also briefed them on something new, which was of great help for the development of tourism products. Tourism was the best channel leading to peace across the strait. It would create welfare to tourism and people on both sides of the strait, so as to welcome the day of booming tourism as soon as possible.
Against the regular prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic, ATETS held the tourism promotion for Taiwan market with a “cloud” pattern. “Trip to the Yellow River” and “Trip to the Yangtze River” were two classic tourism products. Online interaction was carried out in 9 venues, including that of Beijing, Ningxia, Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, Shanghai, Anhui, Taibei and Gaoxiong. Taiwan’s tourism, representatives of institutes of higher learning and media learned the brand resource, new routes, favorable policy, recovering condition of scenic sites and pandemic prevention measures of relating provinces (districts and cities). a colorful online experience of “beautiful China” was carried out in this way.
In the promotion of “Trip to the Yellow River”, the cultural and tourism department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region saw local special food as a starting point and introduced Yellow River culture, starry night of the desert, leisure in hotel and lively experience to compatriots in Taiwan in a relaxing and delight tone. The cultural and tourism department used a story-telling method to introduced four ancient Chinese capital, including Luoyang, Kaifeng, Zhengzhou and Anyang, as well as Jiaozuo, a secret place for Tai Chi. In such way, compatriots from Taiwan went through a trip of time and space and were introduced to a cultural image of China’s central region with content of the past and of the modern era. The cultural and tourism department of Shandong province gave an introduction with the core of “a mountain, a river and a sage”; with the prospective of the cultural region of Heroes of the Marshes; new appearance of the Yellow River and the ecological culture of the delta of the Yellow River and with the great influence of Chinese ancient cultural, ideological and spiritual highland.
In the promotion of “Trip to the Yangtze River”, the cultural and tourism department of Sichuan province used a travel video to present liquor in the south part of Sichuan, culture in the east, cultural relics in the north and the beauty in the west, so as to show the rich tourism and cultural resource of the river basin in Sichuan in all aspects. Anhui province had three cultural system, namely three famous mountains (Huangshan Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain and Tianzhu Mountain), three rivers (Yangtze River, Huaihe River and Xianan River) and three cultures (culture of Laozi and Zhuangzi, Tongcheng culture and Hui culture). Cities, towns and villages along the 800-mile Wanjiang River with sound ecology, rich material resource, amazing culture and latest fashion was introduced. The cultural and tourism bureau presented “open, innovative and inclusive” character. It used Shanghai’s outstanding geographical position, delicate culture and integrated culture from the east and the west to introduce ecological tourism represented by China Flower Expo, urban tourism represented by Huangpu River sight seeing and Shanghai culture tourism represented by food and coffee.
People from the mainland of China traveling in Taiwan formally started in 2008. Double-direction tourism had become the main channel of people-to-people communication and had made contribution to the peaceful development of the cross-straits relationship.
After years of development, “beautiful China” promotion had become an important brand to connect compatriots living on both sides of the strait and to enable the cultural and tourism resource of the mainland of China to be known by more. Against the background of regular pandemic prevention and control, the association had been planing and organizing carefully for the promotion. Holding the “beautiful China” promotion again was conducive to the confidence that culture and tourism would recover and to the communication and mutual-learning of both sides, so as to launch more characteristic tourism products and favorable policy to inject momentum to cultural and tourism cooperation of both sides.
Speeches were given by Man Hongwei, secretary general and vice president of ATETS; Lai Sezhen, president of a council of the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association; Xu Yangzhe, president of a council of the Taiwan Tourism Quality Guarantee Association, and Wu Yingliang, president of a council of the Kaohsiung Travel Business Association. More than a thousand people participated in the online promotion event, including representatives of ATETS, Taibei office of ATETS, heads of Gaoxiong office, Taiwan Tourism Association, travel agency, institutes of higher learning, research and study institution, relating enterprises, chambers of commerce, provincial (district and municipal) cultural and tourism departments, media of Taiwan and the mainland of China.