Falling in love with nature

Chinese tourists are discovering more about one of Europe's most enigmatic destinations

Switzerland has not featured heavily among the European travel itineraries of Chinese tourists in recent years, due to the country's notoriously high cost of living.

This appears to be changing, however, as people's interests and tastes shift from shopping to an overall lifestyle experience. It seems that more holidaymakers are willing to splash out to sample sangria on one of Barcelona's sun-drenched beaches, or take an afternoon tea cruise along the River Thames, or a skiing trip in the world-famous Swiss Alps.

Switzerland is still, however, rather an under explored destination as far as Chinese travelers are concerned.

"Many Chinese tour groups visit Switzerland on the way to other places, taking selfies at Jungfrau Mountain, shopping for watches or chocolates at Berne and that's it," said Xu Wei, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan China. "Switzerland has abundant tourism resources that are less well known to Chinese people, such as the ski resort in Zermatt, cheese tasting experience in Emmental, or the vineyard in Lavaux."

After taking a long holiday to the often underrated country, Xu published a travel diary along with three of her friends: Jin Yunrong, a therapist, Li Jing, a TV host presenter, and Chen Li, a former scientist with P&G.

"Pouring a glass of champagne while sitting on top of a mountain, gazing at the bright stars hanging above you, treating yourself to cheese fondue in the countryside pub, aren't those things alone worth going for?" she wrote in the diary .

Natural landscape

"Falling in love with nature is no different from falling in love with a man," wrote Xu from her sentimental female perspective. "I want skin-to-skin contact. I want to touch it, to smell it, to hear it, to experience and enjoy it. Only when you are fully immersed in it do you start to really love nature."

The "skin-to-skin contact" with the clean mountain breezes and the spectacular Alps is just the sort of luxury every stress-ridden city escapist will long for.

With more than 60 percent of its geographical area falling in the Alps area, Switzerland has the world's most magnificent snowy mountains in the winter. One of its cities, St. Moritz, in the heart of Engadin Valley, is blessed with an average 322 days of sunshine every year, and is known for its 'champagne climate', which is dry and sunny with a high degree of snow certainty. On a cold, clear and breezy day, the bright sun makes everything sparkle in the golden light.

"It's as though the air sparkles like champagne bubbles," wrote Jin.

She continued: "Rooftop or mountaintop caf��s are rather run-of-the-mill nowadays. But imagine sitting in the ever-frozen Alps with the magnificent glacier-top mountains stretching away and disappearing from your sight while sipping a warm cup of coffee. That is truly an experience like no other."

Apart from the stunning mountain views, visitors can take in the stunning star-adorned night sky, which is a rare treat for those coming from China's highly industrialized urban cities.

Snow sports resorts

St. Moritz has been welcoming winter holidaymakers for more than 150 years, and it is now one of the world's leading snow sports resorts. Equipped with more than 50 lifts and 300 kilometers of ski paths, legions of skiers from around the world are drawn to St. Moritz, the host venue of two Winter Olympic Games.

Apart from the quality of its snow sports, St. Moritz is also famous for the sheer variety of sports it offers, including frozen lake horse racing, polo, cricket and golf.

"When I was skiing, every now and then my eyes fixed on the signs displaying the emergency number signs. The rescue helicopter could arrive in minutes to help stricken skiers," wrote Jin. "I think the snow resorts are widely admired not only for their climate and world-class snow slopes, but also for their professional services."

Food

Swiss food might not be as well known as other European cuisines such as French and Italian, but it does have its own unique culinary delights, such as cheese fondue, Emmental cheese, Malakoff (balls of fried cheese) and Zurich-style cut meat, to name a few.

"When we were strolling along the Gstaad Promenade in the city of Gstaad, I encountered the best salami I have ever tried," wrote Jin.

According to her diary entry, the salami was stuffed with different types of nuts, which added a rough fibrous texture to the dry meat and meant that it was layered with different tastes.

Contact the writers at yangcheng@chinadaily.com.cn and renxiaojin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/18/2017 page8)