Reporter's Notes | Sino-British travel, going deeper into cultural experience

Xinhua News Agency, London, October 5th Reporter's Notes | Sino-British travel, going deeper into cultural experience

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Wencheng

On the banks of the Thames River in the UK, in front of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, there is an endless stream of Chinese tourists taking photos with their mobile phones. Someone took out a high school English textbook with a photo of Big Ben on the cover, wrote "Happy National Day", "World Peace" and other blessings on the page, and then took a photo of the cover with the real scene of Big Ben in front of them to complete a "check-in of youth."

The textbook cover overlaps with the scenery in front of you, and memory and reality complement each other. For many Chinese tourists, travel is no longer just about "coming here", but a need for richer experiences. The British tourism industry has also captured these changes. Before the National Day holiday, VisitBritain launched the "British Stage Season" and issued an invitation to Chinese tourists visiting the UK: "You might as well include 'watching a play' in your itinerary."

Musicals such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Misérables" appear in many Chinese tourists' London travel guides. Enter London's West End theatre, where music, drama and visual arts intertwine. At the British Library, visitors can take a close look at Leonardo da Vinci's "Arundel Manuscript" and Shakespeare's "First Folio" and other documents. In different cultural experiences, tourists can feel the charm of different civilizations across time and space.

Cultural experiences also take visitors beyond London. With the "Harry Potter" series, "Wuthering Heights" and other film and television production locations being included in the promotion, cultural elements such as literature, film and television have become new landmarks in the UK. More and more tourists are visiting other parts of the UK.

Across the UK, the change is being seized upon. Tourism Scotland recently launched the "National Day Golden Week, Slow Roaming in Scotland" guide on Chinese social media platforms. In addition to basic necessities, food, accommodation, transportation and classic attractions, it also recommends tourists to pick pumpkins in pumpkin fields, attend book festivals, and go stargazing in forest parks.

Zhou Jiami, director of East Asia operations at Tourism Scotland, told reporters that with the increase in independent Chinese tourists, the demand for in-depth cultural experiences has increased significantly. To this end, Tourism Scotland is focusing on promoting experiential tourism products. "These originally relatively niche projects are becoming more and more popular with Chinese tourists, and they have also pushed local travel agencies to develop more new products for the Chinese market."

This change also occurs among British tourists traveling to China. The journey to China is changing from enjoying the great rivers and mountains to getting closer to the rich Chinese culture.

On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the 2026 British Association of Travel Agents Annual Conference was held in Northampton, England, and China appeared as the chief partner country. The China Tourism Office in London joined hands with Chinese and British tourism companies to organize a series of activities called "World's End Together" to showcase Chinese culture and tourism resources to nearly 500 representatives of the British tourism industry.

Hans, a European traveling salesman, was deeply impressed by the Mid-Autumn Festival culture. “The name ‘Tianya Together at This Time’ is very beautiful. The bright moon, jade rabbit, moon cakes, as well as live music and lanterns, made me feel so intuitively for the first time how much the Chinese value reunion.” He said, “China has natural scenery, history and culture, as well as very rich food and cultural experiences, all of which are of interest to European tourists.”

After truly entering China, the cultural experience becomes more concrete. Gary King, sales director of the British Wendy Wu Travel Agency, told reporters that he once took a tour group into Beijing's Hutongs, chatted with residents, and experienced the pace of life and fireworks with local characteristics.

William Adlington, founder of the British new media company "Moon Eye", was full of interest when talking to reporters about traditional Chinese cultural experiences such as bamboo weaving and tea frying. Recently, he traveled to China again, riding a sheepskin raft in northwest China and experiencing air blowing. He believes that traveling is not just about seeing, but also trying it yourself, and feeling the charm of Chinese culture in local customs and traditional skills.

Exchanges between the Chinese and British tourism industries are also continuing to deepen. World Travel Market London 2026 will be held in early November. The organizer of the event told reporters that this year the area of ​​the China Pavilion will further expand by nearly 22% to 487.5 square meters based on last year's record scale. Chris Carter-Chapman, Exhibition Director of World Travel Market London, said that this year’s China Pavilion has a strong lineup of exhibitors and is expected to become one of the busiest exhibition areas on site.

From opening English textbooks in front of Big Ben to chatting with old people in Beijing's alleys; from walking into London's West End theater to experiencing traditional Chinese skills, Chinese and British tourists are no longer content with just watching the scenery, but are getting more involved in each other's lives and cultures. Meeting again and again allows the people of the two countries, who are far apart, to understand each other more deeply.