Shortly after 11 a.m., Mori Hiromi, accompanied by Junko Matsunaga and another friend, walked out of the arrival hall at the Shenzhen Cruise Homeport in Shekou. The Japanese visitors had arrived on the Pacific World cruise ship, which docked on April 28.

They were among more than 1,600 international tourists on board the Pacific World, the first international cruise ship to dock in Shenzhen since the 240-hour visa-free transit policy came into effect.

On May 17, the National Immigration Administration introduced the policy, which applies to foreign tourists who arrive aboard cruise ships docking in Shenzhen and 12 other port cities on the Chinese mainland. Under the policy, all tourists must continue traveling together on the same cruise ship when exiting China.

“This is very convenient,” said one of Hiromi’s travel companions. “Once we had our passports ready, it takes only a few seconds to complete customs clearance by having the passports scanned by a machine.” Previously, all inbound travelers had to manually fill out entry and exit forms.

The trio, who shared a cabin on the cruise, headed straight to K11 ECOAST, the massive harbor-front, art-themed shopping mall that opened on a trial basis on April 28.

A volunteer helps arriving Japanese tourists at the Shenzhen Cruise Homeport on April 28.  Photo courtesy of the homeport

“After that, we want to go explore Nantou Ancient Town and Sea World,” said Hiromi. The tourists were instructed to return to the port by 8 p.m. yesterday to board the ship, which was scheduled to leave for its next destination in Vietnam.

“The moment our cruise docked, I saw so many modern skyscrapers. This is gonna be an exciting city walk,” Matsunaga remarked. Even though it was their first time visiting Shenzhen, Hiromi and Matsunaga quickly decided on their itinerary thanks to advice they received from Japanese volunteer Sayaka Nakano in the port lobby.

Nakano and four other Japanese expats living in Shenzhen volunteered to provide essential information and travel tips to arriving tourists. Organized by the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats, they distributed hand-drawn city maps of Shenzhen, leaflets highlighting main attractions, Nanshan service manuals, and trilingual courtesy service cards.

Nakano, who has resided in Shenzhen for 11 years, said there are many places worth exploring in the city. “Considering their limited time, it’s best they focus on destinations in Nanshan, not too far from Shekou.”

Another volunteer, Ayumi Seki, guided a senior couple to a money exchange point in the port lobby. “They needed some local currency for their visit,” said Seki, a two-year resident of Shenzhen.

The Pacific World cruise departed from Kobe, Japan, for Shenzhen. The largest ship in Peace Boat’s fleet made its first-ever visit to Shenzhen on March 25 of last year.