Southeast Asia’s Hundred Groups, Ten Thousand Tourists Travel to Shandong Flower Season and Spring Jinan Inbound Tourism Promotion Season Officially Launched.
On April 11, over 150 tourists from Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia arrived in Jinan, starting a journey through a vibrant sea of flowers in the spring breeze of the Spring City. This marks the largest Southeast Asian inbound tourist group to visit Jinan this year. On the same day, the Southeast Asia Hundred Groups, Ten Thousand Tourists Travel to Shandong Flower Season and Spring Jinan Inbound Tourism Promotion Season, organized by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and hosted by the Jinan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, was officially launched at the Ming Shui Ancient City Scenic Area.
Welcoming “Inbound Guests,” Jinan Takes the Lead in Introducing Measures
The opening of the event was marked by a song-and-dance performance of "This Station, Jinan" from the Jinan Song and Dance Theatre. In her speech, Sun Lei, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, highlighted that Shandong shares close human, geographical, and cultural ties with Southeast Asia, with promising prospects for cultural and tourism cooperation. Shandong will smoothen the channels for personnel exchanges, offer rich product lines, and optimize service guarantees, ensuring that foreign tourists can travel comfortably and safely in the province.
"Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand have always been Jinan’s most important inbound tourist markets," said Ren Guangfeng, Vice Mayor of Jinan, warmly welcoming the guests. This "welcome" is tangible. In 2024, Jinan, in collaboration with 15 departments, became the first city in the province to introduce "Several Measures for Accelerating High-Quality Development of Inbound Tourism in Jinan." The environment for inbound tourism, including border clearance, foreign currency payments, and tax refunds, has been comprehensively optimized and enhanced. The city is promoting the deep integration of air and travel, cooperating with Shandong Airlines and Yaoqiang International Airport to optimize inbound tourism services. A total of 293 foreign currency POS machines have been installed, and 19 foreign currency exchange points set up, with international payment coverage at hotels rated four stars and above.
At the launch ceremony, willow branches swayed, and springs flowed. The creative acrobatic performance "Willows of the Spring" by the Jinan Acrobatic Troupe drew praise from tourists.
Jinan’s acrobatics are internationally renowned, with the city frequently sending cultural exchange groups abroad. In recent years, Jinan has launched the “Spring Jinan” international cultural tourism exchange brand, organizing exchange groups to 9 countries (regions), launching inbound tourism routes covering ten themes such as springs, cultural heritage, and food, and hosting events like the "Singapore Cultural and Tourism High-Quality Development Promotion Conference" and "East Asia Cultural Capital Overseas Tourism Promotion Season." Meanwhile, 15 cultural exchange groups and travel agencies from various countries and regions have also visited Jinan for research.
At the launch ceremony, the Southeast Asia "Hundred Groups, Ten Thousand Tourists Travel to Shandong" Flower Season and "Spring Jinan" Inbound Tourism Promotion Season were officially kicked off. The "Twelve Flower Goddesses" made their appearance, with their "flash mob" performance bringing the atmosphere to a peak.
Immersive Experience of Spring City Culture, Personal Experience of "Hospitality" Charms
Huang Wanling, a representative of the Malaysian tourists, said that during this trip to Shandong, she realized that Shandong's "hospitality" is far beyond the slogans; she personally experienced the grandeur of Qilu culture, the boldness of the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and the loyalty of Shandong people. The Spring City, Jinan, left a deep impression, especially the famous springs like Baotu Spring and Black Tiger Spring, each with its own charm and story.
The launch ceremony also set up an interactive experience area. In addition to "A Letter from Shandong" flower photo opportunities and tea brewing by the stove, there were 21 representative Jinan intangible cultural heritage projects to experience, as well as tastings of intangible heritage delicacies, including shadow puppetry, facial masks, dough figurines, flower arrangements, paper cutting, ejiao (donkey-hide gelatin), jujube tea, and rose cakes. Visitors could also participate in traditional cultural experiences such as throwing pots, flower hairpins, cuju (ancient Chinese football), dress in Hanfu, and paint peach blossom makeup, immersing themselves in the charm of Chinese traditional culture.
"Jinan is a City Full of Stories and Charm"
"The spring here is beautiful, and the city is full of vitality," said Mr. Liu, a 72-year-old visitor from Malaysia, on the afternoon of the 11th, during a visit to Ming Shui Ancient City. It was his first time in Jinan. He had just toured Daming Lake, Five-Dragon Pond, and other scenic spots and felt that Jinan is a very charming city with many stories. A visitor from Thailand said, "Today we tasted the spring water big bowl tea, and it was very sweet. When we go back, we will definitely encourage more travel-loving friends to visit Jinan!"
This group of 150 Southeast Asian tourists from Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia visited scenic spots like Daming Lake, Baotu Spring, Five-Dragon Pond, Kuaihouli, Furong Street, and Ming Shui Ancient City, deeply experiencing the spring landscape, tasting local delicacies, and feeling the charm of Jinan's culture. Most of the tourists found the trip to be new and interesting.
At present, direct flights between Jinan and Bangkok, as well as Jinan and Singapore, are available. With the relaxation of visa policies and improvements in international flight connectivity, the cultural and tourism cooperation between Jinan and Southeast Asia is set to usher in new development opportunities.
（Hou Jing, Kuang Qiongqiong, Li Xiaotong）