Shanghai China International Travel chairman Feng Yiming, above far right, arrives Sunday afternoon at Strasburg Rail Road with a group of travel writers and agents from China.
Travel writers from China relax Sunday in a rail car at Strasburg Rail Road.
Travel agent Fiona Fei, left, poses with two other members of a Chinese tour group that visited Strasburg Rail Road Sunday.
Members of a Chinese tour group, which included travel agents and travel writers, took plenty of pictures during their visit.
Travel experts expect 100 million Chinese tourists to be traveling abroad each year by 2020.
And local tourism representatives want some of those tourists — about double the current number coming out of China — to include Lancaster County in their travel plans.
"We're expecting to see an explosion in travel," said Janet Wall, vice president of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau. "It's a huge opportunity for us."
Wall was on hand Sunday at Strasburg Rail Road to welcome a delegation of 12 Chinese travel writers and tourist agents, who were spending a day in Lancaster County as part of a nine-day tour of Pennsylvania's attractions.
"We see this as a great opportunity to show them the best of all worlds that we have here in Pennsylvania," Wall said.
The number of Chinese visiting the U.S. is forecast to jump 15 percent this year. That's the tip of the iceberg of the estimated 300 million people in China's middle- and upper-income groups who might consider an overseas trip in the future.
The expected increase would make China the No. 4 source of tourists to the world, behind Germany, Japan and the United States, according to the World Tourism Organization.
The group left Shanghai on Tuesday and arrived at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, via rail from New York, Thursday morning. Their Philadelphia experience included a visit to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, shopping at Macy's and tours of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Chinatown.
Saturday found them in Buck's County and Bethlehem.
They departed for Lancaster County early Sunday morning, stopping first at the Amish Village in Ronks for a tour and ride on an Amish buggy, and later sampling local cuisine — including shoofly and whoopie pies — at Hershey Farm Restaurant.
Then it was time for a ride on the railroad. The Chinese contingent filled the plush green seats of No. 75, the first-class Henry K. Long parlor car, which lurched into motion precisely at 2 p.m.
"I think this is the most interesting place on my tour so far," said Fiona Fei, marketing manager for Shanghai Jin Jiang Tours, as the scenery passed by her window. "It's the most dynamic."
She particularly enjoyed the traditional train setting, she added. "They don't have trains like this in China."
Some members of the group spent the 45-minute junket taking pictures and notes. Others chatted quietly or pointed excitedly at the attractions as they passed. Several were content simply to turn their chairs to the windows, sit back and enjoy the passing scene.
"Does Lancaster County have anything other than the Amish?" one traveler asked, eyeing the rolling fields outside.
Few members of the group spoke English. Feng Yiming, chairman of Shanghai China International Travel and the elder representative of the group, told translator Han Pan, from the state Department of Community & Economic Development, that this was his first visit to Lancaster County.
"He is impressed," Han said.
Feng, Han said, "sees the diversity here. The Amish culture is well maintained, and transportation is very convenient. He is sure when people know about Lancaster County, they will want to come here."
Zhao Yanxin, a travel writer for Shanghai Weekly, said he enjoyed "the natural beauty of the scenery ... and the uniqueness" of this area.
Zhao, also speaking through Han, said he has traveled widely, but most places "don't have so much open space as America."
Zhang Lei, a writer for World Traveller Magazine, said Pennsylvania is "decent ... and exciting."
"You can not only experience the history scene here," he said. "There is a lot of enjoyment."
Many of his readers view Pennsylvania as "a holy land of American history ... but Chinese people aren't easily touched by American history," Zhang said.
"There is a lot of misunderstanding. They think this place is meaningful, but boring," he said. "I will tell my readers you can have a lot of joy in Pennsylvania ... and I will lure them here with those other elements."
Shopping at Rockvale and Tanger outlets was next on the agenda for the group. They had reservations to spend the night in Lancaster city at the Lancaster Arts Hotel after sampling the cuisine at FENZ Restaurant.
The schedule today and Tuesday includes Hershey, Gettysburg and Longwood Gardens. The group departs from Philadelphia on Wednesday.