02 Only by crossing mountains and seas can one find oneself when looking back
The world is coming towards us in those travels, becoming within reach. In the ten years before the epidemic, Chinese people almost ate all the delicious food in the world. People would scream with joy at the colorful desserts in France, and covet the exaggerated Tanduli barbecue in Central Asia.
At the same time, the world has also roughly seen the appearance of Chinese people. That’s not from cold numbers, but from a heroic legend: Chinese people are generous. Not only did people endlessly carry back many Japanese toilet seats and rice cookers, but they also harvested many luxury goods from old Europe, including those worn on their hands, arms, and bodies. As the Champs – É lys é es became increasingly stagnant, it once made foreigners believe that “they” bought things without blinking their eyes.
It can be certain that this is not the whole truth, but only a narrow side of the travel story. Traveling is actually a process of “seeing each other” between the world and me, always filled with cute misunderstandings. But the significance of travel is that a person “throws” themselves into another world, and it is also a way to “know myself”. Just like everyone in life, I didn’t “reflect” myself in a mirror, but “recognized” myself in a crowd, in the differences between me and you.
I don’t know from which year or month, but the traditional duck chasing style of tourism has changed. Vacationers who travel to Chiang Mai, marathon enthusiasts who want to gather the “Big Six”, pilgrims who hike on the “St. James’s Road”, and wild players who explore the North and South Poles, all have found suitable ways to travel based on their hobbies.
For a while, the “Extraordinary Series” launched by China Merchants Bank’s credit cards also gained popularity among ordinary people. That is a travel plan specifically designed for popular destinations, no one knows how many times it has been polished, but it does make travel more convenient.
For many people, I am not traveling for the sake of traveling, but rather making travel a commentary on their life. People began to calmly gaze at the world outside: renting a car and exploring unfamiliar cities was a good idea; Climbing mountains, camping, chatting with friends we meet, and spending a lazy afternoon together is also a different kind of comfort.
This does not mean that traveling must be done in an elegant way, but rather that coming to this world is worth exploring the vast world. A person can only use a “telescope” to look back and forth at their past life from elsewhere. When life is wrapped in the details around you, don’t expect to have a transcendent gaze while sitting at home, because feet sometimes think better than the mind.
Not just for you to see the world, but also for the world to see you. In 2002, the number of Chinese outbound tourists was only 16.6 million. By 2019, this number had increased to 155 million people. China Merchants Bank Credit Card, which has been ranked first in the overseas credit card trading market for 15 consecutive years, has conducted statistics. In 2019, on average, one out of every 10 China Merchants Bank credit card holders had made overseas purchases. The number of cardholders who have visited more than 5 destinations increased by 32% compared to 2017, and the farthest steps have already been taken in extremely distant places, such as Antarctica, Ushuaia, and Droop Island – beautiful islands thousands of miles away from Beijing in Latin America.
In the context of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has become more and more open, and more countrymen have gone abroad to become ambassadors of cultural exchanges. From the perspective of China and the world, the world is no longer strange to China. More and more people feel the power of China, and they read more confidence from the faces of Chinese people.
03 Every beginning of freedom is a journey through the mist
The 21st century has opened nearly a quarter of its scroll, and although it is still difficult to uncover its full face, this beginning has allowed us to admit that it is already dazzling enough.
Through all of this, we can see China’s vigorous progress all the way – the people on this land have become calm and composed from not having seen much of the world; This land is filled with countless businesses full of faith and vitality, accompanying travelers to ride the wind and waves together, and jointly outlining a faint hidden line of growth and upgrading.
On January 8th, the day when the first phase of “customs clearance” began, China Merchants Bank credit cards, which account for more than 25% of the market share of overseas credit card consumption, launched a 10% cashback activity for the highest amount of overseas consumption. In fact, companies have been preparing for many years to depart with travelers. For a long time, China Merchants Bank credit cards have been closely intertwined with outbound travel, and the route to connect the world sometimes feels like a journey through fog.
