Star-studded locations

A Chinese policewoman patrols in Rome, Italy, in June, to help her counterparts to protect Chinese tourists. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The TV program Keep Running was shot in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, for one episode in 2017. The Chinese crew of Mr Right, a serialized love story starring actor Jin Dong and actress Jiang Shuying, spent nine days shooting in Antwerp, Belgium.

Based on the true story of Ho Feng-Shan, a Chinese diplomat in Vienna who risked his own life and career during World War II to save more than 3,000 Jews, the TV series The Last Visa went to the Czech Republic for filming to better portray the events of the time.

TV series and shows filmed in foreign locations attract an increasing number of Chinese tourists to those destinations.

"The foreign scenes that appear in movies can make me interested in visiting," says Guan Weina, who works for a TV station.

Statistics seems to confirm the popularity of foreign locations among Chinese entertainment fans.

Articles and videos on China Daily's Weibo account about Jin Dong and his presence in Antwerp to film Mr Right received a large number of reposts and likes. Their popularity can be partly attributed to Jin－but comments show that Chinese readers are also attracted to Antwerp itself, and its reputation as a world-class center for beer, chocolate, fashion, its diamond trade and its historic port and shopping streets.

Destinations on the Silk Road Economic Belt are expecting more Chinese visitors than ever before.

"The number of visitors to the Czech Republic doubled because of the Belt and Road Initiative and the signing of strategic cooperation between the two countries," said Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, in an episode of Keep Running.