Chinese students tend to have a better impression of Taiwan than Chinese tourists, probably because they stay for longer, a Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) study showed.
According to the latest issue of the SEF’s Exchange magazine, 75 percent of Chinese students who studied in Taiwan and 60 percent of Chinese tourists who visited the country had an improved image of Taiwan’s culture and society after their stays.
The magazine conducted a survey of 41 Chinese tour groups in June last year, collecting 1,002 valid questionnaires. In addition, 227 responses were received from Chinese students who were studying in Taiwan.
The survey team also interviewed 41 Chinese students, 11 Chinese tourists, plus three Chinese and three local tour guides.
It found that the Chinese students and tourists have “high esteem” for Taiwan’s culture, economy and natural environment, and were impressed by local residents’ warm hospitality, civility and friendliness, volunteerism and the quality of service.
The Chinese — students and tourists alike — were especially impressed by Taiwan’s night markets, food, arts and cultural activities; TV, film and entertainment; immense energy in innovation; and effort and resources devoted to preserving relics and traditional culture.
Analyzing the changes in the Chinese respondents’ impression of Taiwan before and after they visited, the survey found more students than tourists had a better image of the nation’s society and culture after seeing them in person.
When it comes to Taiwan’s natural environment, more Chinese tourists than Chinese students had an improved image after making their visit.
In terms of their image of Taiwan’s economy and politics, nearly half of the surveyed students said it remained the same before and after visiting Taiwan, but 20 percent said it got worse — more than Chinese tourists.
In general, the survey found that the longer Chinese nationals stayed in Taiwan, the more they were impressed with Taiwan’s society and culture, but there was little change in their impressions of Taiwan’s economy, politics and natural environment.
The survey also discovered that most Chinese have been attracted to visit Taiwan because of their “romantic feeling of history,” “anachronistic nostalgia,” “relative superiority of Taiwan’s culture” and “a desire to seek the roots of traditional Chinese culture.”
Chinese tourists and students visiting Taiwan also encountered some difficulties, the survey found, including problems with package tours, differences in cultural values, nationalism and ideological conflicts.
The package tour problems referred to the policy of only allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan in tour groups, making it impossible for travelers to gain in-depth exposure to the nation.
However, the large number of tour groups have crowded out local tourists in many popular areas and exhausted Taiwan’s tourism resources.
The magazine pointed out that last year, Chinese made 1.63 million visits to Taiwan, with 1.2 million coming for non-business purposes.
To understand their attitudes toward Taiwan before and after making their visits, the SEF commissioned National Cheng Chi University’s Department of Sociology to conduct the survey.
The survey team completed the work in five months and has sent the findings and suggestions to government agencies in charge of cross-strait affairs.
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