Chinese tourists pose for a group photo at Observation Terrace Sphinx on Jungfrau Mountain at the altitude of 3,571 meters above sea level in Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
GENEVA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A group of 25 people from China visited the city of Lucerne and the popular scenic spot and winter sports resort Jungfrau in central Switzerland on Feb. 13-14, after three years of pandemic-related hiatus.
"I am very excited to see all these again," said Cui Chenghai, a tourist who frequented Switzerland before the outbreak of the pandemic. "It has been three years and everything here has no change, but my feeling is different."
Starting Feb. 6, travel agencies and online tourism service providers in China have been permitted to provide group tours of 20 countries, and relevant airline ticket and hotel booking services have been resumed as well. Switzerland is one of the 20 countries.
"I think people from different countries or of different ethnic groups in the world have been communicating less because of the pandemic," said Adrian Schmied, Market Manager China of Jungfraubahnen Management. "So if tourists can travel to different countries, better mutual understanding will be built when they communicate to each other. And I believe the earth would be in better harmony this way."
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the current pandemic situation "does not presently warrant" compulsory COVID-19 testing for travelers from China.
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows Jungfrau Peak at sunset in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
Chinese tourists pose for a group photo in front of the city's landmark Lion Monument in Lucerne, Switzerland, Feb. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese tourist takes pictures of the scenery out of the window on the Zentralbahn from Lucerne to Interlaken, Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the landscape of the Jungfrau region in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese tourist views a wall displaying the construction history of the Jungfrau railway at "Jungfraujoch -- Top of Europe," the highest railway station in Europe at the altitude of 3,454 meters above sea level, in Jungfrau, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 from Observation Terrace Sphinx on Jungfrau Mountain at the altitude of 3,571 meters above sea level shows the Aletsch glacier in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
Stefan Pfister of Swiss railway company the Zentralbahn offers a piece of chocolate to a Chinese tourist on the Zentralbahn from Lucerne to Interlaken, Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the snow mountain scenery in the Jungfrau region being reflected on the sunglasses of a Chinese tourist, in Interlaken, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese tourist poses for a photo with the Zentralbahn from Lucerne to Interlaken during a break in Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese tourist takes a selfie in front of the city's landmark Lion Monument in Lucerne, Switzerland, Feb. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese tourist views watches at a store in Lucerne, Switzerland, Feb. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the landscape of the Jungfrau region in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese tourist shoots a video of the landscape in the Jungfrau region in Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 from Observation Terrace Sphinx on Jungfrau Mountain at the altitude of 3,571 meters above sea level shows the Aletsch glacier in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the landscape of the Jungfrau region in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken from Observation Terrace Sphinx on Jungfrau Mountain at the altitude of 3,571 meters above sea level on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the Aletsch glacier in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the landscape of the Jungfrau region in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A train runs in the mountains in the Jungfrau region in Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
Chinese tourists visit a watch store at the altitude of 3,571 meters above sea level on Jungfrau Mountain in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows Jungfrau Peak (C) in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
This photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows Observation Terrace Sphinx on Jungfrau Mountain at the altitude of 3,571 meters above sea level in Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)■
