Source: Hebei Daily
On July 1, 1979, Beidaihe Seashore Tourism Company of China International Travel Service, the first travel company in China, opened for business. This was a sensation at that time because of its honor of "the First in China".
△ July 10, 1979, Hebei Daily News
On July 10 of that year, the fourth edition of Hebei Daily published a report on "Beidahe Seashore Tourism Company began to receive tourists." It was reported: “China International Travel Agency Beidaihe Seashore Tourism Company has been established for more than a month. All preparations are completed and tourists from all over the world have been officially received on July 1st.” All the leaders and working staff are determined to do a good job and create a good brand so as to run our first travel company well."
One after another, foreign tour groups came to Beidaihe: In 1981, the first luxury international cruise ship, the Nordic Baozhu, with more than 1000 foreign tourists arrived at Qinhuangdao Port and visited the Great Wall. In 1982, Japanese "Honeymoon" came to Beidaihe, where more than 100 new Japanese couples held a Chinese-style wedding, with all the brides wore Chinese cheongsam.
The picture is from the Internet
The first travel company in China thus became a window for foreign tourists to understand Chinese culture and custom, they liked Chinese food such as dumplings and hot pots, and the landscape and culture of China. Foreign tour groups came to Beidaihe one after another, while rare Chinese tourists came here at that time.
The self-driving tour to Beidaihe has become popular Since 2000; the food tourists could choose changed from stewed Chinese cabbage and bean curd, oil cake, and jellied bean curd to seafood, barbecue, and varieties of Chinese and Western foods...
The picture is from the Internet
“Today, Beidaihe receives nearly 9 million tourists a year, most of them are from all over China.” Zhou Yongbo, deputy director of Beidaihe Tourism Bureau, said that compared with the number of tourists in 1979, it has increased by 3,000 times. The company and private-owned business engaged in tourism in Beidaihe also increased from 1 in that year to 2,699.