Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Chinese Foreign Ministry welcomes more visits of international travelers to experience the vibrancy of China as it is following a US vlogger’s travel meme “city bu city” – literally meaning “city or not city” – that sparked a surge in inbound tourism to China.

Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday she is delighted to see foreign friends enjoying the beautiful scenery and delicacies that China has to offer, experiencing the vibrancy of China as it is.

Known as “Hug Hug Bear” or Bao Bao Xiong in Chinese, the American vlogger named Paul Mike Ashton living in Shanghai has recently shot to fame on Chinese social media and even attracted the interest of celebrities with his invention of the “city or not city” travel meme, a Chinese-English catchphrase which queries whether a place is fashionable with an atmosphere of a big city or whether an activity is stylish, symbolizing a trendy urban lifestyle. 

The term “city” here has become a synonym for urbanization and modernity. 

During the Thursday press briefing, Mao said that she also has just learned the new usage and connotation of the word “city.” As China continues to relax its entry policies, more foreign friends can visit and tour China more conveniently.

Ashton captured viral attention starting with a vlog during his visit to the Great Wall in Beijing in May with his sister, garnering hundreds of thousands likes on different social media platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Xiaohongshu, an equivalent to Instagram. 

With his fluent though less-than-perfect Putonghua, Ashton created videos containing conversations unfolded with the “city or not city” format to feature family outings across China, and the inexplicably catchy “city or not city” meme quickly became wildly popular in various fields such as travel, fashion styling, and everyday life in China, with more foreign vloggers joining in sharing travel vlogs about their travels across China. The implementation of the 144-hour transit visa-free policy has made it more convenient for foreign tourists to visit China, creating extensive vlogs during their travels. 

According to Mao, the first five months of this year saw over 12 million inbound travels made, with more than 7 million of which realized with visa-free policy. During the Dragon Boat Festival holidays, the number of inbound and outbound travels paid by foreigners increased by 57 percent year-on-year. 

We will take more steps to make travel simpler and more enjoyable for foreign friends. China’s always ready to welcome friends from around the world with open arms, Mao added. 

Global Times