澳门回归后旅游业更发达

Every afternoon, Tang Yinjuan takes a walk along the Wanzai harbor accompanied by the voice of tour guides welcoming passengers aboard a cruise ship.

Tang is the founder of the cruise tour company. Ten years ago, on the same harbor, she gazed at the island of Macao from the harbor for several hours, thinking about the challenges her company would face after Macao returned to China.

"I worried very much at that time. I thought after Macao returned to China, we definitely would not have any more business. Everyone could then go to Macao directly, so who would take our cruise tours?"

It was quite reasonable for Tang to worry about her business. When she started the cruise tours in 1984, they used to be the only way for mainland tourists to experience Macao. But after Macao returned to China, Tang feared that the allure of traveling to Macao by boat would disappear and that it would no longer be considered an extravagance.

This prompted the operators of the Jiuzhou Cruise Ship Company, including Tang, to hold daily meetings to discuss every possible option to sustain their business.

"By riding aboard our cruise ships, the travelers can see an overall view of Macao, and it is right in front of them. Besides, we believed that after Macao returned to China, the whole place would become more beautiful than before, so that tourists from all over China would be attracted to come here."

Tang started to transform her cruise company by gradually introducing new boats, a new harbor, and new facilities with more entertainment options.

Tang says she has been delighted to see the rapid changes Macao has undergone in the 10 years since its return to China.

A few new buildings have been erected almost every one to two years. And her cruise tour around the island now has more to offer to visitors.

As a longtime employee of the cruise ship company, Yang Changsheng says he has observed the changes day by day.

"The buildings in Macao are very special, very modern. They look very cool. I like the new Lisboa the most. It looks like a full-blossomed lotus flower."

This year, the company introduced a night cruise. It even attracts many residents of Macao who want to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the Haojiang River at night. It also lets them mingle with people from the mainland.

Here is a passenger from Macao.

"I think this is a very good platform for us to communicate with people from the mainland, and we can also make friends."

"I feel like such communication can help both sides to understand each other better. We share feelings, and we are from the same big family."

With the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of Macao's return to China, more visitors have been traveling to Zhuhai and Macao. The cruise company says its ticket sales have doubled compared to the same time last year.

The cruise tour around the island of Macao is one of the main tourist draws in Zhuhai city. Tang says as the Wanzai district of Zhuhai catches up with Macao in development, the cruise tour company may be able to offer visitors extended cruises in the near future.

For China Drive, I'm Liu Min.