Encouraging reports have underlined the success of the policy. Figures from domestic travel portal Trip.com Group show that from November 2024 to mid-September this year, tourism bookings by residents of South Korea to China increased by 131 percent year-on-year, as reported by Global Times.

As South Korea's Chuseok — the country's public holiday to celebrate the harvest and the full moon — coincidentally overlapped with the Chinese National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday this year in early October, Trip.com Group said that many tourists from South Korea visited Chinese destinations like Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Dalian in the northeastern province of Liaoning during that period.

Chen Minsheng, an independent tour guide in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, which is also a popular Chinese destination among South Korean tourists, said that he is pleased to see the more friendly visa policies of the two countries.

"Many of my customers are elderly people aged around 60 from South Korea and I'm very happy that they come to China and see the beautiful views and experience different traditions in China. People-to-people communication is always the most heartwarming, which can deepen our mutual understanding and lay a solid foundation for cooperation between the countries," he said.

chengsi@chinadaily.com.cn