Hangzhou casts wide net for city promoter
(03-13 12:07)
A city in China is searching for a foreign traveler to become a “modern Marco Polo,’’ with a 40,000 euro salary on offer to the winner, a tourism official.
Hangzhou in eastern China, renowned for its canals and bridges, was described as the “most beautiful and elegant city in the world'' by the Venetian traveler, whose 13th-century journal was one of the first detailed accounts of China written by a European, AFP reports.
Now the city is “calling people around the world to follow Marco Polo's steps,’’ said Chen Li, of Hangzhou's tourism commission.
The candidates will be recruited via Facebook – which is banned in China itself –
and will undergo intensive training before being flown to the city for a 15-day trip, the tourism commission said in a press release.
Duties include making a short video about Hangzhou and promoting the city online.
“To be a modern Marco Polo is a very interesting job, it will maybe change their life,'' Chen said, adding: “They may find inner peace, like Kung Fu Panda.''
‘The Travels of Marco Polo,’ composed in 1298, described a journey across Asia through realms of pygmies, exotic plants and cannibals.
China was the world's third most visited country in 2011, behind the United States and France, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, with 57.6 million international tourism arrivals.
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