东博会“魅力之城”探源、寻趣、赏魅

□ 文/本刊记者 文霞

东博会“魅力之城”探源、寻趣、赏魅

□ 文/本刊记者 文霞

前来参观东博会的观众与东博会吉祥物“合合”合影

每年的中国—东盟博览会（以下简称“东博会”）期间，“魅力之城”展区都是当之无愧的“人气之王”。自第2届东博会设置“魅力之城”专题以来，每年会期，其所在展厅必是摩肩擦踵、欢声鼎沸，观众们尽可在这一方小小天地中，饱览东南亚风情。通过参加东博会“魅力之城”的展演推介，许多“养在深闺人未识”的东盟城市走进了大众的视野和心里。近年来，柬埔寨暹粒、泰国清迈、越南芽庄等，借出任东博会魅城之机，逐步走红，成为中国游客自助游的首选。越来越多东盟“魅城”借东博会平台与中国的城市结为了友好城市。

2017年是“中国—东盟旅游合作年”，值此契机，让我们随着中国—东盟博览会秘书处对外联络部副部长唐海先生一起走进东博会“魅力之城”专题，了解“魅城”的前世今生。

文莱展厅

“魅城”之源

一条漫漫湄公河，奔流不息，串联了中国与中南半岛的深重情谊；一支壮哉海航队，乘风破浪，沟通了情深意重、繁花似锦的百年商路，维系了一条相通相近的文明纽带。自古以来，中国与东盟国家亲近相邻，或山水相连，或隔海相望，良好的区位优势和相同相近的文明底蕴，将中国和东盟国家紧密地联系在一起。

“为深化中国与东盟的合作，推动双方合作从国家层面进一步延伸到城市层面，东博会从第2届起推出‘魅力之城’专题，11国根据当届东博会主题，选择本国具有代表性的城市作为‘魅力之城’综合展示其贸易、投资、科技、文化、旅游等方面的优势和商机。”东博会秘书处对外联络部副部长唐海说，“东博会是一个国际化的平台，随着中国—东盟合作的不断深入，魅力之城专题有了更深层次的内容，不仅在旅游、文化、教育等方面促进各国魅城之间相互交流，也推动了各国在产业园区和国际产能方面的深入合作。”

每个“魅力之城”都是由各国精心挑选。“每年东博会通常会确定一个主题，类似2016年的‘共建21世纪海上丝绸之路——共筑更紧密的中国—东盟命运共同体’，各国依据这个主题来选择本国最符合的城市或地区作为‘魅城’。”唐海副部长说，“被选中的‘魅力之城’一般由其市政府牵头组织相关经贸、文化、旅游等部门和优势企业、机构等共同成立代表团，通过特色产品展示、传统文化展演、重点项目推介等丰富多彩的形式，在东博会‘魅城’展区全面展示自己的魅力。而具体的活动组织和策划牵头部门，每个国家的情况不太一样，有的由本国的东博会共办部门统筹，有的则是由‘魅城’的市政府负责。以泰国为例，有时候由东博会泰国共办方泰国商业部统筹安排，有时候则由魅城当地市政府，这主要由各国政府视具体情况来安排。”

“魅城”之趣

“我们非常高兴地看到‘魅力之城’专题这么受大家欢迎，这一切离不开每位展览工作者的辛勤工作。”唐海副部长表示，从事对外联络工作这么多年来，与东盟国家结下了不解之缘，即便国情不同、文化存在些许差异，但并不影响彼此成为很好的合作伙伴，“东盟国家的友人们都是十分友善而热情的。”

“记得有一年的‘魅力之城’很特别。一般我们的‘魅城’都是一国一个，但是那一年菲律宾的魅力之城多达4个！这是时任菲律宾总统格罗丽亚·阿罗约特别要求的。”唐海副部长回忆道，“时任菲律宾总统阿罗约觉得，菲律宾的风光秀丽，一个‘魅城’不足以展现菲律宾之美，希望能多几个城市更好、更全面地展现菲律宾的风貌。虽然刚得到消息时我们有些惊讶，但这也从另一方面表明了东盟方对东博会‘魅城’专题效果的肯定。对我们来说，这是一件很有成就感的事情。”

中国和东盟国家都拥有大美河山和特色鲜明的历史文化，旅游资源亦十分丰富。在联合国教科文组织世界历史遗产名录上，东盟国家有11处自然景观和17处文化遗产，中国则拥有50处，双方的旅游市场都拥有巨大潜力。“中国—东盟”是旅游资源优势互补的“强上加强”模式，促进中国—东盟旅游合作，不仅带动双边贸易，也使民众“亲上加亲”。2015年中国居民出境游客超过1．2亿人次，接待入境游客1．3亿人次，预计到2020年中国居民人均出游次数还将翻一番。据东盟秘书处预计，2017年将有1.21亿人次域外游客到东盟旅游。

“各国魅力之城的展位位置也不是随意布置的，需要经过一个抽签仪式。在每年的东博会‘魅力之城’专题展区抽签仪式上，抽签环节都会有创新的设计，年年不重样。”唐海副部长说，“2016年的抽签仪式就十分有意思，抽签盘做成了大披萨饼的模样，被切分为11等份，每块‘小饼’背后分别标着1～11的阿拉伯数字，对应11个‘魅城’展区的展位位置。每届主题国第一个上台抽签，其余十国包括中国则按照国名英文首字母排序依次抽签。2017年3月，在南宁例行举办的‘第14届东博会高官会议’上，中国和东盟10国代表分别抽取了一块‘披萨’，选定了本国的魅城展位位置，从1～11号展位依次是文莱、泰国、马来西亚、新加坡、缅甸、老挝、菲律宾、越南、柬埔寨、印度尼西亚和中国。”

“魅城”之魅

志合者，不以山海为远。“魅城”随东博会走过12年，时间让合作的诚意结出了硕果。“每一年东博会之后，我们都会向各国‘魅城’收集反馈意见，不断改进。像是2016年的越南‘魅城’邦美蜀，就是一个对中国游客来说比较冷门的城市。对于咖啡文化不是很了解的话，很多中国人可能在它来东博会推介之前并不知道它，可在第13届东博会之后，人们都记住了这个越南的‘咖啡之都’。今年的‘2017得乐省咖啡节’，我们也收到越南方的盛情邀请，体验一回越式咖啡风情。

“‘魅力之城’就像一座桥梁，为各国加强城市间交流合作铺设道路。它是东博会不可或缺的重要专题，也是大家走近东盟的最佳平台。这些年，通过‘魅力之城’牵线搭桥成为姊妹城市、由国家合作延伸到城市间合作的成功案例不计其数。其中最为典型的就是‘两国双园’。中国钦州和马来西亚关丹都曾被选为本国的‘魅力之城’，通过东博会平台和两国政府的全力推动，成功开创了‘两国双园’的国际合作新模式，为两国创造了巨大的商机。此外，东博会举办地广西已建立97对国际友好城市，与世界194个国家和地区开展贸易往来。

“我想，东博会‘魅力之城’专题的魅力，就在于把11国通过城市合作，更紧密地连在一起，形成东博会独有的‘美景’吧。”唐海副部长说。

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When it comes to exhibitions appearing at the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), which is held annually in Nanning, Guangxi, China, you may be told that City of Charm de fi nitely deserves to be the most attractive one. Since 2005, City of Charm has been set as a featured theme of each CAEXPO, giving visitors a great view of local customs and practices of Southeast Asian countries;meanwhile, through exhibitions or promotion activities, the Chinese public has known about numerous ASEAN cities such as Cambodia’s Siem Reap, Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Vietnam’s Nha Trang, which have been prioritized by Chinese self-service travellers as their destinations. Furthermore, it is CAEXPO’s City of Charm that has helped more and more ASEAN’s Cities of Charm forge a sister-city relationship with their counterparts in China.

The year 2017 has been set as “China-ASEAN Tourism Cooperation Year”. The other day, Mr. Tang Hai, deputy head of the International Liaison Department under the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, presented the general information of City of Charm when accepting the interview byChina-ASEAN Panorama.

The origin of City of Charm

China and ASEAN countries have been neighbors linked by waters and mountains since ancient times, and they have long been closely associated with each other, thanks to favorable regional advantages and similar cultural background.

“It was at the 2ndCAEXPO that City of Charm was launched,aiming to reinforce China-ASEAN cooperation and to help extend the state-level bilateral cooperation to the city level. China and ASEAN countries can choose a local city consistent with the theme of CAEXPO to be displayed comprehensively every year, through which visitors can learn about each city’s advantages and business opportunities in terms of trade, investment, science & technology, culture,tourism and so on,” said Mr. Tang, “CAEXPO serves as an international platform. As China-ASEAN cooperation continues to deepen, the connotation of City of Charm has been enriched, which is not only embodied by increasinglyenhanced mutual exchanges pertaining to tourism, culture and education but also by the closer cooperation between them in industrial parks and international industrial-capacity.”

Virtually, each City of Charm presented was elaborately selected by the participating countries. If a local city is designated as the City of Charm, as introduced by Mr. Tang,its municipal government will partner with not only sectors in charge of economy and trade, culture and tourism but also competitive enterprises or institutions to set up a delegation,which is committed to comprehensively demonstrating the city’s charm in various forms such as featured products displaying, traditional culture performance and key projects promotion.

The joy of City of Charm

“We are very delighted that City of Charm has been favored by the public, which is attributed to a lot of hard work by everybody who engaged in the exhibition,” noted Mr. Tang,adding that the af fi nity between ASEAN countries and him has taken shape during the years of working on international liaison and that differences in national conditions and culture cannot prevent him from fostering a good partnership with his counterparts in ASEAN.

“I remember that there was a very special year for City of Charm. Each participating country generally selects one city to be displayed in the City of Charm Pavilion each year, but the number of Cities of Charm introduced by the Philippines was as many as four in that year, a special request of the then Philippine President Gloria Arroyo to us,” recalled Mr.Tang, “Arroyo thought that one City of Charm could not suf fi ciently reveal the Philippines’ spectacular scenery, so she hoped that additional cities could be allowed to better and to more comprehensively show the Philippines’ charm. Though we were a little surprised upon hearing this news, on the other hand, it embodied ASEAN countries’ af fi rmation of City of Charm provided by CAEXPO. For us, it gave us a great sense of accomplishment.”

Both China and ASEAN countries abound in tourism resources, including magnificent landscapes, as well as distinctive history and cultures. Looking through the UNESCO World Heritage List, you will fi nd that ASEAN has 11 natural-landscape sites and 17 cultural heritages placed on it, while China has 50 in total. Thus, it can be seen that the two sides’ tourist markets have enormous potential to be unleashed.China and ASEAN complement each other in terms of tourism resources; therefore, facilitating bilateral cooperation can not only expand the scale of two-way trade but also make people in the region more associated with each other. Statistically,over 120 million Chinese residents chose to travel abroad in 2015 while 130 million foreign tourists arrived in China for sightseeing. The per capita tourism frequency of Chinese citizens is estimated to double by 2020 while it is predicted that 121 million tourists outside ASEAN would go sightseeing in ASEAN countries in 2017, according to ASEAN Secretariat.For the location of each participating City of Charm, Mr. Tang said that it is not arranged randomly, but decided by drawing lots, during which creative ideas are absorbed each year.

The fascination of City of Charm

“We routinely solicit ideas from the sponsors of Cities of Charm to for a better improvement when each CAEXPO finishes,” noted Mr. Tang. Speaking of the fascination of City of Charm, Vietnam’s Buon Ma Thuo, for instance, once was a city where few Chinese tourists had been, while it has been borne in mind that it is a city rich in coffee after the 13thCAEXPO held in 2016.

City of Charm is just like a bridge for exchanges and cooperation between cities of China and ASEAN. Currently,it has been an indispensable part of CAEXPO, and has evolved into an optimal platform to know ASEAN. Since the introduction of City of Charm, innumerable successful stories about sister city, as well as state-level and even city-level cooperation have been written. “Two Countries,Twin Parks”, for example, is the most impressive one. Both China’s Qinzhou and Malaysia’s Kuantan used to be selected as the City of Charm. It is through CAEXPO and the joint efforts of the two governments that a new international cooperation model has been created, bringing enormous business opportunities to the two countries. In addition,Guangxi, the venue of CAEXPO, has established 97 pairs of sister-city relationship with its counterparts outside China, and has made business contacts with 194 countries or regions throughout the world.

The Origin, Joy and Fascination of CAEXPO’s City of Charm

Written by Wen Xia / Translated by Xu Zhiliang