An oasis of new experiences

"It's a pivotal step to promote the region's key heritage sites to Chinese tourists, sparking cultural curiosity among them," says Abdulrahman AlSuhaibani, vice-president of culture at the Royal Commission for AlUla, and the curator of the exhibition.

"With over 30,000 archaeological sites in AlUla, being in the region feels like living in an open museum," AlSuhaibani says. He stresses that AlUla is dedicated to making its cultural offerings available to a diverse audience and says that they have put more efforts into enhancing the experience for Chinese visitors, while preserving the region's rich cultural heritage.

"We're actively balancing tourism with the preservation of its cultural heritage through strategic partnerships and sustainable tourism practices," he says. "For example, we've worked with Chinese museums to focus on areas like archaeology, cultural heritage preservation and research."

AlUla's tourism authority offers Chinese audio guides and is hiring Chinese-speaking tour guides to help visitors understand the stories behind its heritage sites.

Moreover, it's also possible to pay through China UnionPay for greater convenience.

At the AlUla Language Institute, founded in 2021, Saudis can learn Chinese, among other languages, smoothing communication with tourists.