Tag: Travel

MALAYSIA WELCOMES FIRST MEDICAL TOURISM FAMILIARISATION TRIP FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS FROM UZBEKISTAN AND KAZAKHSTAN

by jezzabellemente, posted in Uncategorized

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 (Bernama) — As demand for Malaysia’s healthcare services continues to grow across Central Asia, Malaysia is welcoming senior healthcare professionals from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan for its first Medical Tourism Familiarisation Trip organised by Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) and Tourism Malaysia (TM), designed to deepen professional collaboration and expand referral opportunities between the regions. the initiative reflects the growing demand for Malaysian healthcare services across the region and aims to foster knowledge exchange and long-term partnerships between medical institutions in Malaysia and Central Asia.

From 3 to 10 August 2026, the programme brings together 16 distinguished healthcare professionals, including practicing physicians, professors and senior medical specialists from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, for an immersive study visit throughout the programme. Participants will gain first-hand insight into Malaysia’s internationally recognised healthcare ecosystem and integrated approach to healthcare travel.

During the week-long programme, the delegation will visit four of Malaysia’s leading private healthcare institutions including Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Prince Court Medical Centre, and Sunway Medical Centre. Participants will meet with hospital management teams, doctors and specialists to discuss clinical excellence, healthcare quality standards, international patient management and the practical aspects of delivering seamless care to international patients.

The initiative comes at a time of growing interest in Malaysia’s healthcare sector across Central Asia. In 2025, healthcare travel revenue from Kazakhstan increased by 29.4%, rising from approximately USD 400,000 to USD 520,000, while Uzbekistan recorded a 30.8% increase, growing from around USD 305,000 to USD 400,000. The consistent growth in both markets highlights the region’s rising importance as a source of international patients and reflects increasing confidence in Malaysia’s high-quality, internationally accredited healthcare services. Malaysia currently attracts around 1.84 million international patients each year, resulting in over USD 770 million in healthcare travel revenue annually. The country’s healthcare system includes over 90 partner hospitals and providers, delivering internationally recognized expertise in various fields such as cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics, fertility treatments, and dentistry. 

Dato’ Suriaghandi said the familiarisation programme reflects MHTC’s commitment to building stronger professional relationships with healthcare communities in emerging markets while creating greater awareness of Malaysia’s healthcare capabilities among key medical decision-makers. He noted that healthcare professionals play an important role in influencing patients’ healthcare choices, making long-term engagement essential in strengthening Malaysia’s position as a preferred medical tourism destination.

“Trust is at the heart of every healthcare journey. By welcoming healthcare professionals to experience Malaysia’s healthcare ecosystem first-hand, we hope to foster meaningful relationships built on confidence, knowledge and shared commitment to patient care. That is the essence of Healing Meets Hospitality where clinical excellence is complemented by genuine compassion, creating a healthcare experience that patients can trust.” Dato’ Suriaghandi Suppiah, CEO of MHTC.

Beyond the professional visits, the delegation will also experience Malaysia’s rich cultural heritage through visits to Kuala Lumpur, the UNESCO World Heritage city of Melaka and Putrajaya. By combining world-class healthcare with renowned hospitality, modern infrastructure and diverse tourism experiences, Malaysia offers international patients a comprehensive healthcare travel journey that extends well beyond medical treatment.

Photo can be found in this link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15D6oZDyMxbpR4tLuADIe64hRM-LTX3V2?usp=drive_link

SOURCE: Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Muhammad Rasydan Ma’at
Head of Unit
PR and Media
Communications
Tel: +603 8776 6168
Email: rasydan.m@mhtc.org.my
 
Name: Mohamad Shahizam Fauzi                                                       
Head, Communications
Tel: +603 8776 6168                                                                                     
Email: shahizam.f@mhtc.org.my 

–BERNAMA

Rolling Through History: Discover Gunshanzhu, Guizhou’s Legendary Miao Dance

by jezzabellemente, posted in Uncategorized
Gunshanzhu trainees in Zhuchang Township, Nayong County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, perform the traditional climbing formation.

BIJIE, China, Aug. 5, 2026 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Deep in the mountains of Zhuchang Township, Nayong County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, a unique Miao ethnic dance has been passed down for generations. Known as gunshanzhu, or the “Pearl of the Guizhou Plateau,” this remarkable art form is more than a performance. It carries the memories of Miao migration, rich cultural traditions, and the enduring spirit of the Miao people.

According to legend, during the ancient migration of the Miao people, their journey was filled with rugged mountains and thorny paths. To help their people pass through the wilderness, brave Miao youths used their own bodies to roll through the thorn bushes, creating a path for their community. To honor this courage and hardship, later generations recreated these rolling movements and developed them into a unique lusheng dance. Every roll is a tribute to their ancestors. Every leap reflects the resilience of the Miao people.

Gunshanzhu is one of the most challenging forms of Miao ethnic dance. Performers wear embroidered white jackets and pheasant-feathered hats while playing six-pipe lusheng instruments. The greatest challenge is that the melody must never stop. Even while performing extremely difficult movements, dancers must continue playing the lusheng without interruption.

During performances, dancers roll and spin between bowls filled with water, balancing their bodies with remarkable precision. They perform breathtaking movements such as the Flying Swallows, Human Pyramid, and Rolling Dragon. The seamless combination of music, movement, breath, and strength creates the unique beauty of this ancient art.

Since the 1990s, gunshanzhu has earned recognition both at home and internationally for its unique artistic value and cultural significance. In 2006, it was included in the first batch of China’s national intangible cultural heritage list.

Behind its preservation is the decades-long dedication of Wang Jingcai, a national-level inheritor of gunshanzhu. By incorporating acrobatic elements into the traditional dance, he helped bring this art form from remote communities to the world stage. Today, local schools have introduced gunshanzhu courses, allowing younger generations to continue this cultural legacy.

Gunshanzhu is a living historical record and a symbol of the Miao people’s perseverance. When the sound of the lusheng rises and dancers begin to roll and leap, audiences witness more than extraordinary skills. They see a thousand-year-old memory, a cherished tradition, and the enduring spirit of a people.

Source: Nayong Yongkang Cultural Tourism Investment & Development Co., Ltd.

–BERNAMA

The world’s best travel “dupes” to avoid overtourism

by jezzabellemente, posted in Uncategorized

DUBLIN, Aug 5 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — There are some iconic destinations that never go out of style, such as Venice, Aspen, Kyoto or Ibiza, but in recent years the desire to escape crowded tourist hotspots has grown just as quickly. More travellers are looking to enjoy the same breathtaking scenery and cultural experiences without the crowds, queues or higher prices.

This summer, the biggest travel trend isn’t swapping one crowded destination for another nearby; it’s crossing borders entirely.

Holafly’s first Travel Dupe Index identifies the best international alternatives to some of the world’s most iconic destinations by comparing visual and cultural similarity, accommodation costs, overtourism, accessibility and social momentum. Unlike traditional “dupe” rankings, every alternative is located in a different country from the destination it replaces, offering travellers a genuinely new experience while maintaining the same appeal.

The results reveal that the best alternative to Venice isn’t elsewhere in Italy, but Ghent, Belgium, whose medieval canals and historic architecture offer a remarkably similar atmosphere while experiencing significantly lower tourism pressure. The ranking also highlights alternatives such as Banff instead of Aspen, Jeonju instead of Kyoto, and Budva instead of Ibiza, with travellers saving up to 83% on accommodation depending on the destination.

Travel dupes are becoming an alternative to overtourism

As overtourism continues to affect many of the world’s best-known destinations, travellers are increasingly looking beyond obvious substitutes. Rather than replacing one crowded destination with another nearby, international travel dupes allow visitors to discover similar landscapes, architecture and cultural experiences while reducing costs and avoiding peak visitor numbers.

The world’s best travel dupes

RankTravel DupeInstead of
 
1Ghent, BelgiumVenice, Italy
   
2Banff, CanadaAspen, United States
   
3Jeonju, South KoreaKyoto, Japan
   
4Budva, MontenegroIbiza, Spain
   
5Cascais, PortugalSaint-Tropez, France
   
6Lake Ohrid, North MacedoniaLake Como, Italy
   
7Las Terrenas, Dominican RepublicTulum, Mexico
   
8Menton, FranceAmalfi Coast, Italy
   
9Ciudad Perdida, ColombiaMachu Picchu, Peru
   
10Siargao, PhilippinesBali, Indonesia

Methodology

To identify the world’s best travel dupes, Holafly compared ten iconic destinations with international alternatives using a weighted scoring model. Each destination pair was evaluated across five criteria: visual and cultural similarity (25%), measuring how closely the alternative replicates the look and feel of the original; accommodation savings (25%), based on average peak-season hotel prices; overtourism contrast (20%), comparing visitor pressure between the original destination and its alternative; accessibility (15%), considering flight availability and travel times; and social momentum (15%), analysing Instagram, TikTok and online search trends to identify emerging destinations.

To ensure the ranking highlighted genuinely new travel experiences, every alternative had to be located in a different country than the destination it replaces, with no more than two alternatives from the same country included in the final ranking. This methodology prioritises destinations that deliver a similar experience while providing better value, fewer crowds and the opportunity to discover somewhere new.

Media contact: press@holafly.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f1e0551-dbc0-4ba9-95f6-3c4ac7c55993

SOURCE: Holafly

–BERNAMA

CGTN: Why China has become a hot summer destination

by jezzabellemente, posted in Uncategorized

BEIJING, July 28 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CGTN published an article exploring the China Travel boom. As a growing number of global travelers head to China in search of cooler destinations, the article explores the country’s boom in inbound tourism this summer, and highlights how China’s expanding visa facilitation policies and foreigner-friendly services are driving this travel trend.

As extreme heat grips much of Europe, a new travel trend is taking shape. Increasingly, travelers are looking beyond their own borders in search of cooler summer destinations, and China is emerging as one of their top choices.

With its cool climate and picturesque landscape of green hills and clear waters, Liupanshui City, known as China’s “cool city” in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, has emerged as a favored destination for foreign travelers escaping the heat. During this summer vacation, more than 20 themed events, including music festivals and rural garden fairs, are taking place across the city, drawing visitors from around the world.

Touring the city this summer, Max Slonim, an American tourist, was impressed by the cool and comfortable weather. “Whenever you go to scenic and beautiful places, you can really experience nature and the peaceful atmosphere without huge crowds and long queues,” he said.

The broader momentum behind “China Travel” continues to build. During the first half of 2026, China recorded more than 22.91 million inbound visits, up 20.4% year on year. Traditional summer destinations such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces have topped international travelers’ summer wishlists.

Booming China Travel

In Zhangjiajie, a tourist city in central China’s Hunan Province known worldwide for its dreamlike landscape, the peak season for inbound visitors has arrived. Tourists from Europe, Southeast Asia and beyond venture into its UNESCO-listed sandstone mountains, where cool breezes and lush forests offer a natural retreat.

Benefiting from China’s 240-hour visa-free transit policy, the city has opened over 10 passenger air routes linking eight countries and regions. Fast-track immigration procedures and entry to major attractions with just a passport have made traveling in the city more seamless than ever for international visitors.

Since the beginning of July, family summer trips to the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Scenic Area have surged, with daily visits approaching 10,000 and inbound tourists accounting for over 50% of the total.

China’s cooler coastal destinations are also seeing rising popularity. Qinhuangdao, a seaside city in north China’s Hebei Province, has introduced a diverse lineup of summer activities, including sailing, speedboat rides, intangible cultural heritage performances and immersive VR experiences at the Great Wall Museum.

The city received 43,000 inbound visits during the first half of this year, up 50% year on year, while the average stay of overseas tourists doubled from seven days to fifteen.

The trend is especially noticeable among European travelers. European countries account for nearly 30% of China’s top 20 inbound source markets for this summer. Travel bookings have surged 275% year on year, while attraction ticket orders have increased by 20 times. Visitors from Britain, France and Germany alone account for nearly 42% of all European arrivals.

Why China?

Behind the tourism boom is China’s steadily expanding visa facilitation policy. China currently offers unilateral visa-free entry to nationals of 50 countries and has signed mutual visa exemption agreements with 29 countries. Meanwhile, nationals from 55 countries can now utilize the 240-hour visa-free transit program to enter China via 65 designated ports.

International accessibility has also improved significantly. Direct flights now connect overseas destinations with 160 Chinese cities, while more than three-quarters of inbound travelers now enter the country visa-free.

Meanwhile, travel services have become increasingly foreigner-friendly. Multilingual ticketing machines, AI-powered translation devices and customer support in English, French, Spanish and other languages are now widely available at tourist attractions and on major travel platforms.

Yet one detail repeatedly highlighted by foreign visitors is surprisingly simple: air conditioning. From airports and subway stations to shopping malls, hotels and tourist attractions, reliable cooling has become an essential part of China’s summer travel experience, supported by one of the world’s largest and most reliable power systems.

Across social media, videos of foreign travelers sharing their summer adventures in China have become windows through which global audiences are rediscovering the country. Increasingly, visitors are venturing beyond Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to explore ancient towns, mountain villages and lesser-known cities. What they are finding is more than just a cool place to escape the summer heat – they are discovering a China that is increasingly accessible, welcoming and vibrant.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-07-26/What-makes-China-such-an-appealing-summer-gateway-for-global-tourists–1P5OL710a4M/p.html

CGTN
Digital cgtn@cgtn.com

SOURCE: China Global Television Network Corporation

Ancient Port, New Voyages: Ningbo’s Smart Manufacturing Expands Global Trade Footprint via Maritime Silk Road

by jezzabellemente, posted in Uncategorized

NINGBO, China, July 7, 2026 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

On July 4, 2026, the cultural exchange event Encounter & Insight: Dialogue Between Ningbo, China and Colombo, Sri Lanka  took place in Colombo. 

Separated by thousands of miles, the two millennia-old port cities reconnected, leveraging their ports as a bond and cultural exchanges as a cohesive force to hold in-depth talks on integrated port-city development and bilateral economic and trade connectivity.

This cross-Indian Ocean dialogue echoes the ancient Maritime Silk Road while charting a brand-new outbound development path. As a pivotal starting port of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Ningbo is building a new global trade landscape powered by smart manufacturing.

A thousand years ago, merchant vessels from Mingzhou Port set sail southward loaded with Yue Kiln celadon porcelain, passing through Ceylon to deliver Oriental crafts across the Indian Ocean coasts. Precious gemstones and spices traveled the same sea route back to regions south of the Yangtze River, laying the groundwork for the earliest cultural exchange between the two ports through trade. Today, the cargo carried by giant cargo ships has undergone a dramatic transformation. Beyond traditional daily necessities, intelligent equipment, digital home appliances and industrial robots now dominate shipments.

Official statistics show that Ningbo’s exports of intelligent equipment, including mechanical arms and industrial robots, hit 440 million yuan in 2025, surging more than 40% year-on-year. From January to May this year, Ningbo’s exports of mechanical and electrical products maintained steady growth, reaching 247 billion yuan, a 4.1% year-on-year increase and accounting for 58.0% of the city’s total export volume. The new energy foreign trade sector saw explosive growth, with exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products jumping 138.4% year-on-year, with electric vehicle exports skyrocketing 215.9%. Smart manufactured goods are continuously expanding the scope of Ningbo’s foreign trade.

Complementing the Colombo forum, an exhibition highlights Ningbo’s outstanding going-global enterprises and their products, vividly illustrating the profound shift in Ningbo’s trade structure.

Alongside time-honored Maritime Silk Road staples such as celadon porcelain and silk, Ningbo’s smart manufactured products – including AI translation glasses, intelligent outdoor gear and digital small home appliances – occupy prominent display spaces across the venue. In Sri Lanka, Ningbo smart water meters are widely adopted nationwide, while handheld cooling fans and intelligent kitchen appliances have entered ordinary households.

Leveraging Colombo Port’s transshipment advantages, massive volumes of Ningbo smart manufactured goods are distributed onward to Europe, the Middle East and beyond. What Ningbo exports today is no longer mere commodities, but a complete outbound solution integrating technology, brand value and after-sales services.

Faced with mounting challenges including homogeneous global market competition and rising trade barriers, Ningbo’s manufacturing sector has abandoned the old model of low-cost OEM production, relying on intelligent transformation to consolidate its competitive edge in overseas markets.

Over more than a decade of digital transformation efforts, Ningbo has achieved full digital upgrading of all industrial enterprises above designated size. A large number of local factories have built unmanned black-light workshops and flexible production lines, escaping vicious price competition through continuous technological iteration. Represented by five specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and innovative enterprises dubbed Ningbo’s “Five Little Tigers” – famous for their core proprietary technologies, including highly sophisticated visual inspection equipment, heat-resistant materials, sun-proof coatings, puncture-proof materials and self-drilling fasteners – these niche manufacturers have developed differentiated technical routes and full-spectrum production capacity, cementing irreplaceable competitiveness for Ningbo smart manufacturing on global markets.

Beyond trade expansion, Ningbo has built a supporting cultural communication system to ensure “products go global, accompanied by local culture”.

The launch of Sri Lanka’s first “One-Meter Cultural Space” cultural station during the Colombo event marks a tangible milestone of Ningbo’s go-global initiative. Built on enterprises’ overseas outlets, these miniature cultural exhibition halls integrate intangible cultural heritage crafts, urban stories and smart products, enabling overseas clients to experience cutting-edge manufacturing while gaining insight into Ningbo’s profound cultural heritage.

During the twin-city story-sharing session, Ningbo entrepreneurs based in Sri Lanka and local designers blending Chinese and Sri Lankan aesthetics shared stories of bilateral exchanges. Economic and trade ties have evolved into a bond for people-to-people communication, bridging divides in cross-cultural trade.

From Tang-dynasty celadon porcelain sailing across the Indian Ocean to intelligent equipment shipping to every corner of the globe, Ningbo, the ancient Maritime Silk Road port, has preserved its enduring gene of openness. Where exchanges once relied purely on commodity trade, today smart manufacturing underpins a stable, diversified and high-value-added global trade network.

The Ningbo-Colombo dialogue stands as a vivid microcosm of this transformation: the port still links lands and seas, yet the core of its trade has undergone a full intelligent upgrade.

Rooted in its historical legacy as a key Maritime Silk Road hub, Ningbo has consolidated its industrial foundation through a decade of digital development, expanded global market reach via worldwide port networks, and softened trade cooperation through cultural exchanges. This brand-new outbound shipping route forged by smart manufacturing has not only reshaped the city’s foreign trade landscape, but also delivered a replicable port-city development model for Chinese manufacturing to go global.

Source: Ningbo International Communication Center