The Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism hosted a promotional event named “Celebrate Folk Traditions, Discover the Fun of Shanxi” at the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf yesterday, during which Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Deputy Director Si Tou Lam Lai pointed out that Macau’s visitors from the northern province to Macau rose 5 percent year-on-year in 2025.
Si Tou said in her speech that Shanxi and Macau have long maintained “positive interactions”. Last year, Macau welcomed over 210,000 visitors from Shanxi, marking a 5 percent year-on-year increase, she noted.
Shanxi (“west of the [Taihang] mountains”) has some 35 million inhabitants.
Si Tou also said that with resources such as its UNESCO Historic Centre status and its designation as a Creative City of Gastronomy, Macau looks forward to further expanding tourism cooperation with Shanxi for mutual benefit and shared development.
Wang Aiqin, director of the Culture and Tourism Department of Shanxi Province, said in her speech that Shanxi is home to 531 nationally protected key cultural relics sites and three UNESCO World Heritage sites. Wang also said that Shanxi’s cultural and tourism industries have seen sustained growth. Between 2021 and 2024, the province recorded an average annual increase of 11.96 percent in domestic tourist visits and an average annual rise of 20.41 percent in tourism revenue, she said. Wang expressed Shanxi’s desire to deepen cooperation with Macau in areas such as cross-boundary tourism routes, joint brand promotion, and the exploration of international markets.
Shanxi lies some 1,600 km north of Macau.
At the one-day event venue, four interactive booths were set up to showcase Shanxi’s intangible cultural heritage. The four interactive booths presented Jishan mother-of-pearl lacquerware, porcelain carving in Taiyuan, woodblock Spring Festival prints, and portrait paper-cutting.
Meanwhile, the department pointed out in a statement on Sunday that it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Macau’s Travel Industry Hub B2B Platform in Zhuhai, aiming to jointly promote the international development of Shanxi’s cultural and tourism industry.
The statement said that both entities will integrate resources and deepen cooperation in areas such as digital transformation and international market promotion.
According to the statement, the platform will leverage its global network to help align Shanxi’s cultural and tourism products with international demand, expand overseas marketing channels, enhance the brand’s global influence, and lay a solid foundation for building Shanxi into an internationally renowned tourism destination.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Deputy Director Si Tou Lam Lai addresses yesterday’s event at the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf in Nape.
Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism Director Wang Aiqin addresses yesterday’s event. – Photos: Armindo Neves
