Between Oct. 17 and 19, diplomats from 10 embassies to China, such as Thailand, Malta, and Chile, toured Wuhan on the trip "Discover China —the Charming Yangtze River" organized by the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. During their days in the city, they boarded the Zhiyin cruise, ascended the Yellow Crane Tower, walked along the East Lake Greenway, took the East Lake cruise, and visited the 1911 Revolution Museum and Wuhan Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

10月17—19日,在文化和旅游部国际交流与合作局组织下,来自泰国、马耳他、智利等10国的驻华大使馆外交官来到武汉,参加“发现中国之旅——魅力长江”活动。在汉期间,他们登上“知音号”,登临黄鹤楼,游览东湖绿道,乘坐东湖游船,参观辛亥革命博物馆、武汉城市规划展览馆。

▲ Diplomats on the Zhiyin cruise   Photo by Jiang Chao

During the visit, the diplomats expressed hope to promote cooperation between Wuhan and their countries in more fields in the future as Wuhan not only has a beautiful ecological environment but advanced high-tech industries as well.

外交官们纷纷表示，武汉不仅有优美的生态环境，也有发达的高科技产业，期望推动本国与武汉未来在更多领域展开合作。

▲ Diplomats in front of the 1911 Revolution Museum

Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of Thailand to China

泰国驻华大使阿塔育

Hope to resume Wuhan-Bangkok flights

期待早日恢复武汉至曼谷直航

▲ Arthayudh Srisamoot writes on the cover of a copy of the Changjiang Weekly: "Please come and discover Wuhan, a very green and cosmopolitan city."

During his three days in Wuhan, Arthayudh Srisamoot, the ambassador of Thailand to China, saw a "prosperous and dynamic" city. Srisamoot said: "I hope direct flights resume between Thailand and Wuhan. Then, we can work with the Wuhan government to promote tourism."

三天的武汉之行，泰国驻华大使阿塔育看到一座“繁荣、充满活力”的城市。阿塔育说：“期待从武汉飞往泰国的国际直航早日恢复，届时我们将与武汉市政府一起举行促销活动推动旅游业发展。”

John Aquilina, Ambassador of Malta to China

马耳他驻华大使卓嘉鹰

Pleased to see Wuhan building up its reputation as a tourist city

“非常开心看到武汉作为一个旅游城市被越来越多的人所熟知”

▲ John Aquilina writes on the cover of a copy of the Changjiang Weekly: "Discover China Discover Wuhan."

This is the second visit to Wuhan after fifteen years for John Aquilina, the ambassador of Malta to China. In his eyes, Wuhan has profound historical and cultural heritage and has developed tremendously in these years. He is pleased that the city is building up its reputation as a tourist city, as well. The Yangtze River light show was also a unique spectacular for him. He said, "I don't think that anywhere else in the world that a beautiful thing could be made on both sides of the river."

这是马耳他驻华大使卓嘉鹰十五年后的第二次武汉之行。在他眼里，这十几年来武汉的发展巨大。在他看来，武汉拥有深厚的历史文化底蕴，近年来也作为一个旅游城市被越来越多的人所熟知。卓嘉鹰大使认为在“知音号”上欣赏到的长江灯光秀也是此行非常特别的体验。他说：“我不认为在世界上其他任何地方能看到这样壮丽的沿江景色。”

Luis Schmidt Montes, Ambassador of Chile to China

智利驻华大使路易斯·施密特·蒙特斯

Visit of 'Discover Wuhan' makes my dream come true

武汉之行更像是一次“圆梦之旅”

For Luis Schmidt Montes, Chile's ambassador to China, this trip to Wuhan was more like "realizing his dream of visiting the city as a tourist." "This time, I finally got the chance to visit the tower myself and enjoy the great view of the Yangtze River." In addition, the Chilean ambassador was so impressed by the scenes of Hankou in 1920s and 1930s reproduced on the Zhiyin cruise, "it was great to learn about the lives of the people along the Yangtze River in this way."

对今年第三次到访武汉的智利驻华大使路易斯·施密特·蒙特斯来说，此行不单单只是“发现”，更像是一次“圆梦之旅”。“这次我终于亲自登上了这座千古名楼，一览绝美景色。”此外，“知音号”上展现的20 世纪20—30年代的大武汉城市风情也让施密特赞叹不已，“我一直非常欣赏你们的文化，能通过此行了解长江沿岸人们的生活，我觉得很好。”

Hussain Abdul Latheef, Third Secretary in the Embassy of the Republic of Maldives in Beijing

马尔代夫共和国驻华大使馆三等秘书侯赛因·阿卜杜勒·拉提夫

Looking forward to coming back when cherry blossoms in full bloom

“期待在樱花盛开之时再来武汉”

Hussain Abdul Latheef found that Wuhan was indeed a beautiful city as what his friends had described, a city nourished by the great rivers and lakes. "I heard that the cherry blossoms in Wuhan are gorgeous and beautiful when they are in blossom and I hope to come back to Wuhan when they are in full bloom," he said.

在侯赛因·阿卜杜勒·拉提夫眼中，武汉确实和朋友们描述的相差无几，是一座美丽的城，一座被大江大湖滋养的城。“听闻武汉的樱花开放时绚烂美丽，希望能在樱花盛开之时再次来武汉。”侯赛因·阿卜杜勒·拉提夫说。

Anouar Bougayou, Diplomat in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Beijing

摩洛哥驻华大使馆外交官安瓦尔

First visit to this stunning city

初访美丽的武汉

▲ Anouar Bougayou writes on the cover of a copy of the Changjiang Weekly: "Discover Wuhan."

It was the first time that Anouar Bougayou visited Wuhan. When asked about the most impressive part of his journey in Wuhan, he replied, "It was the trip on the cruise ship to watch the light show. The weather was good. The view was wonderful. The performance of the actors was very good. I'll visit Wuhan again for sure."

这次是安瓦尔第一次来武汉。提及武汉最吸引他的地方，他说：“那应该是夜游长江并观赏灯光秀。那天天气舒适，景色宜人，游船上的表演也非常棒。我以后一定会再来武汉。”

Simon L Modiba, Head of Consular Section in the South African Embassy in Beijing

南非驻华大使馆领事部主管西蒙

Make South Africans more aware of Wuhan's beauty

要让南非人民知道武汉有多美

"Wuhan has rich historical and cultural heritage, and it's my interest to get to know the city and promote it to our South African citizens," Simon L Modiba told our reporter. He was most impressed by the 1911 Revolution Museum. "It is so impressive that the museum has recorded history with all of those artifacts, pictures and words so that younger generations would be able to understand the past created by our forefathers."

“武汉有深厚的历史文化底蕴，我此行的目的就是要深入了解这座城市，并且让我们国家的人民也了解它。”西蒙告诉记者。令他印象最深刻的是参观辛亥革命博物馆。“博物馆用文物、图片和文字精心记录历史，让后人了解先辈们浴血奋战的过往，太令人称赞了！”

(Edited by Fan Tingting)