Inside a coffee shop at the Badaling Great Wall scenic area in Beijing, Lee from Ireland adeptly opened his WeChat app, and scanned the payment code to purchase three cold drinks for himself, his brother and his friend.

“My brother and friend have always wanted to visit the Great Wall after hearing the saying ‘he who has not been to the Great Wall is not a great man’, so I brought them here,” said Lee, who was enrolled into Beijing University of Chemical Technology this March to study computer science. He mentioned that in Beijing, electronic payment was so convenient, eliminating the need for cash.

Beijing has been seeing a steady increase in the number of inbound tourists since the start of this year, and more and more of them are enjoying smooth payment experiences just like Lee.

According to data released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, in the first quarter, the city received 469,000 inbound tourists, a year-on-year increase of 310%, or 67.2% of the level in 2019. The visa-free policy for inbound tourists has played a significant role. Arrivals from the countries covered by the new policy, including Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg, increased substantially, nearly five times more than that of the same period in 2023.

The Badaling Great Wall scenic area in Beijing is one of the must-visit landmarks for foreigners traveling to the city. According to Zhai Yanwei, Deputy General Manager of Beijing Badaling Culture and Tourism Group, the group has introduced a series of innovative measures to improve services for dining, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, entertainment, and safety.

Foreign visitors at the Badaling Great Wall scenic area (Photo by Beijing Badaling Culture and Tourism Group)

The “Throughout the Great Wall” mini-program platform has already launched bilingual (Chinese and English) ticketing services, enabling foreign visitors to book tickets online with their passports or permanent resident ID cards. Chinese and English signs have been displayed prominently at ticket counters and entry gates, where multiple payment methods and ticket check services for passport and permanent resident ID card holders are available.

Within the Badaling Great Wall scenic area, three bilingual ticket vending machines have been installed at the Badaling Hotel, the Guancheng Square ticket entrance, and the cable car ticket entrance respectively, providing both Chinese and English instructions and supporting various payment methods.

A staff member mentioned that the ticket vending machines have been operational for nearly a month. In addition to purchasing tickets at counters, visitors can also get tickets at the machines simply by entering their passport information.

Since the beginning of this year, Beijing has been continuously enhancing payment services to deliver higher quality, more efficient and convenient payment options, in an effort to improve inbound tourists’ payment experience.

The Implementation Plan of Beijing Municipality for Further Optimizing Payment Services and Enhancing Payment Convenience, released this March, proposes to compile a list of major merchants in tourist attractions and other key locations, and increase the coverage of payment terminals (POS machines) that accept overseas bank cards in the listed places. Efforts should be accelerated to upgrade both the hardware and software of payment terminals, facilitating contactless payments in key transportation scenarios such as the subway. Additionally, the plan also calls for wider deployment of ATMs in key locations such as hotels rated as four stars and above and their surrounding areas, airports, high-speed railway stations, and subway stations throughout the city. The aim is to enhance the coverage of ATMs that support cash withdrawals from overseas bank cards.

Foreign visitors experience electronic payment at a shop within the Badaling Great Wall scenic area (Photo by Beijing Badaling Culture and Tourism Group)

“The Badaling Great Wall scenic area accepts multiple payment options, including cash, mobile payments, and foreign card transactions via POS terminals.” Zhai added that there are also English-language services for purchasing, exchanging, and checking tickets, with translation devices available at all counters.

At the entrance to the Badaling Great Wall, many visitors are seen entering Gifts from the Great Wall, a cultural and creative products store to select desired Great Wall-themed souvenirs. The store staff said that there are hundreds of themed cultural and creative products available, among which the colorful and adorable refrigerator magnets are particularly popular. Many foreign visitors use their Visa, Mastercard, and other overseas bank cards to make direct payments.

“The scenic area has launched the ‘Town Pass’ English guided tours to enable overseas tourists to know more about the history and culture of the Great Wall. It also plans to provide such services in other languages to fulfill visitors’ needs,” said Zhai. As of mid-June this year, the Badaling Great Wall scenic area has welcomed a total of 147,000 inbound tourists, marking an 81% increase year-on-year.

Apart from the Great Wall, Lee plans to take his brother and friends to other tourist attractions in Beijing such as the Summer Palace, to enjoy more beautiful scenery and traditional Chinese culture. “Electronic payment in China has become increasingly convenient and efficient. In recent months, I have often used mobile apps to buy tickets and I am excited to discover more convenient payment options in the future,” said Lee.