{"id":73849,"date":"2014-06-27T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T00:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=feature&p=51285"},"modified":"2017-06-13T12:34:34","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T03:34:34","slug":"yan-zhang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/yan-zhang\/","title":{"rendered":"Yan Zhang"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fn187<\/a><\/p>\n

Yan Zhang<\/strong>
\nHometown: Suzhou, China
\nIn Japan: 12 years
\nIdentity: Employee, Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau<\/p>\n

From organizing welcome events at the Port of Hakata, to sharing information, resources and maps with overseas visitors, Yan Zhang is always busy as the only non-Japanese employee at the Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau. \u201cI want to help visitors enjoy their stay in Fukuoka as much as possible,\u201d she says with an enthusiastic sparkle in her eyes. Yan graduated university and entered the workforce back home in China but, unable to shake an urge to live abroad, she moved to Fukuoka 12 years ago. She took up her current post at the convention bureau in 2010, where the aim is to enhance the urban appeal of Fukuoka while disseminating tourism information. With the influx of cruise ships from China recently Yan has become even busier. One of her personal goals is to visit some port cities outside of Fukuoka to gain perspective and insights to help her satisfy visitors even more. To those visiting Fukuoka, she recommends a trip to Kushida Shrine, Tochoji Temple, and a traditional Japanese meal of \u201ckaiseki ryori\u201d. Yan loves Fukuoka, saying it\u2019s a compact city which is fun and easy to walk around, and she vows to keep trying her best to share Fukuoka\u2019s best points with travellers of the world. FCVB website: www.welcome-fukuoka.or.jp<\/a><\/p>\n

So, tell us what you do?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m from Suzhou, China and I work in the Project Promotion Division General Affairs Department of Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau. My main project involves the cruise ships arriving in Fukuoka.<\/p>\n

\"fn187<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

How long have you lived in Fukuoka and what were you doing before?<\/strong>
\nI have lived in Fukuoka for almost 13 years – since I came to Japan in October 2001. I started working at the Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau (FCVB) in 2010. Before that, I was a housewife.<\/p>\n

Why did you decide to join the FCVB?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t have any children so I had quite a bit of spare time at home. I started looking around and found there was a job going at FCVB. The job description was for desk work, with regular office offices, and Chinese skills necessary – so I thought the job suited me and my lifestyle. In actual fact, the job is more focused on support services for the cruise ships, rather than just desk work, so the working hours advertised were completely wrong. I only found that out after I started working!<\/p>\n

Why did you come to Fukuoka?<\/strong>
\nMany friends of mine have studied in abroad and I had been dreaming of doing the same for long time. I worked at a company in China for two years after graduating university, and at that point I didn\u2019t know if I was ready to give it up and travel abroad. Then a friend of my parents who was working at the Suzhou University foreign exchange center introduced me to Fukuoka.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your job.<\/strong>
\nMy main responsibility is hosting visitors who come from China on cruise ships. On days when there\u2019s a cruise ship at the port, I\u2019m down there for the whole day – from arrival until departure – handing out Fukuoka pamphlets and answering visitors\u2019 questions, such as \u201cHow can I get to Tenjin?\u201d or \u201cWhere can I find delicious Japanese food?\u201d<\/p>\n

On days when I\u2019m not at the port, I plan welcome events. We organize Japanese drum or dance performances by local children and community members to welcome cruise ship visitors to Fukuoka. In my experience, foreigners are really delighted by these events.<\/p>\n

Last year, in cooperation with Shintencho, Solaria Stage and local travel agencies, we took 200 cruise ship customers to enjoy dining and shopping at the two popular Tenjin spots. It was a great way to let the visitors experience the local culture of Fukuoka\u2019s Tenjin area. We\u2019d like to do more of this in the future.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1876\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Are you busy? What do you spend most of your time doing?<\/strong>
\nAs the number of cruise ships visiting Fukuoka increases, my job gets busier and busier! When I get back to the office after a day at the port, there\u2019s always lots of desk work waiting for me. In the office I also work on accounting – handling the volunteers\u2019 transportation expenses and such. There\u2019s a lot of paperwork involved.<\/p>\n

Do you enjoy working in a large Japanese office?<\/strong>
\nMy favorite part of my job is that I get to chat with visitors at the port and hear their opinions directly. I also enjoy talking to the volunteers, who come from many different countries. The volunteers are very dedicated, they always do their best to help visitors get the most out of their stay in Fukuoka and Japan. I\u2019m grateful when I hear them say they enjoy volunteering or that they want to do it again! It also makes me happy when we hand out maps to visitors, or handheld fans in summer, and I can see that they feel Fukuoka is a friendly place. I like working at the port much more than in the office, because I can hear the real voices of visitors there.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0447\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What are some differences in the way things are done here, compared to your home country?<\/strong>
\nGovernment agencies are very strong in China – what they say is what gets done. But in Japan, there is always the need for lengthy discussion before change can start\u2026 even for things that seem so obviously in need of change. In many cases, after lots of discussion, nothing ends up changing. I think the government should be more decisive sometimes, when trying to bring about positive changes in society.<\/p>\n

How many other foreigners work here?<\/strong>
\nNone, just me.<\/p>\n

Do you have any ideas for improvement in your field?<\/strong>
\nIt would be good for staff members like myself to learn more about the services other port cities around the world offer. As the cruise ship business is relatively new to Fukuoka, and Japan, we could benefit from the knowledge of how other port cities in Europe and the world operate in terms of service and hospitality. Even visiting other port cities in Japan, like Kobe or Yokohama, would teach me many things.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0086\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you think inbound tourism will continue to increase?<\/strong>
\nYes, I think it will continue to increase. But the relations between Japan and China care rather sensitive. In the case of instability between the two governments, inbound tourism from China will suffer. That\u2019s a scary thought for me.<\/p>\n

What are Fukuoka\u2019s appeal points to tourists from overseas?<\/strong>
\nTemples and shrines like Kushida Shrine and Sumiyoshi Shrine are famous within Japan, but most foreigners have never heard of them! I think they\u2019re very interesting places where you can delve into the history of Japan, but at the moment they\u2019re relatively unknown as they aren\u2019t promoted strongly enough overseas.<\/p>\n

If you were to make a slogan for a poster to appeal to people in Shanghai to travel to Fukuoka – what would that slogan or message be?<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s a very difficult question! Well, I feel that Fukuoka is a compact city with a good balance between urban and traditional culture, so perhaps its slogan could be \u201c\u81ea\u7531\u306b\u697d\u3057\u304f\u5468\u308c\u308b\u90fd\u5e02 (\u201cCity For Free Independent Travellers\u201d)\u201d. I\u2019d like to encourage tourists to plan their own trip to Fukuoka, rather than come as part of a tour group. I think Fukuoka has all the elements and amenities to make for a safe and interesting look into Japanese culture on your own itinerary.<\/p>\n

What kind of things could Fukuoka do to improve hospitality and service for visiting foreigners?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d love to hold the welcome event every time a ship arrived, but at the moment that\u2019s impossible due to budget. You can really notice a difference between the visitors\u2019 reactions on a day when we hold the event, compared to a regular arrival. After the event, it\u2019s so wonderful to see local children and overseas visitors talking in eachothers\u2019 broken language – \u201cArigatou (Thank You in Japanese)\u201d and \u201cZaijian (Goodbye in Chinese)\u201d – and watch the kids waving enthusiastically at the ship. I am impressed whenever I see this kind of cultural exchange, and it motivates me to want to hold this event more frequently. Also, the decor at Hakata Port is quite plain – I think it could be improved and made brighter!<\/p>\n

\"fn187<\/a><\/p>\n

What do you like to do in your free time?<\/strong>
\nMostly housework! I usually spend one day per week doing housework, like washing and cleaning. Otherwise I like to go driving around the city or visit a cafe with friends.<\/p>\n

Where would you take a friend from your country in Fukuoka?<\/strong>
\nI would take them to Kushida Shrine and Tocho-ji Temple because they are my favorite places in Fukuoka. Also I\u2019d show them Fukuoka Tower; there\u2019s a spot for couples to leave heart-shaped padlocks there, which I think young Chinese people would like. I\u2019d also like to take them to try a traditional Japanese meal of \u201ckaiseki ryori\u201d.<\/p>\n

What are your plans for the future?<\/strong>
\nThe situation right now is that cruise ship visitors generally come to Fukuoka as part of tour groups. But I feel that these tours don\u2019t include Fukuoka\u2019s best spots – for example they go by Fukuoka Tower but the tourists can only see it from the bus. It frustrates me that these visitors leave Fukuoka without getting to see its best points. So, I want to change this situation by encouraging more free independent travellers (FIT) to come to Fukuoka.<\/p>\n

Originally published in Fukuoka Now Magazine (fn187<\/a>, Jul. 2014) <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From organizing welcome events at the Port of Hakata, to sharing information, resources and maps with overseas visitors, Yan Zhang is always busy as the only non-Japanese employee at the Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau. \u201cI want to help visitors enjoy their stay in Fukuoka as much as possible,\u201d she says with an enthusiastic sparkle in her eyes. Yan graduated university and entered the workforce back home in China but, unable to shake an urge to live abroad, she moved to Fukuoka 12 years ago. She took up her current post at the convention bureau in 2010, where the aim is to enhance the urban appeal of Fukuoka while disseminating tourism information. With the influx of cruise ships from China recently Yan has become even busier. One of her personal goals is to visit some port cities outside of Fukuoka to gain perspective and insights to help her satisfy visitors even more. To those visiting Fukuoka, she recommends a trip to Kushida Shrine, Tochoji Temple, and a traditional Japanese meal of \u201ckaiseki ryori\u201d. Yan loves Fukuoka, saying it\u2019s a compact city which is fun and easy to walk around, and she vows to keep trying her best to share Fukuoka\u2019s best points with travellers of the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"51285","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","location-fukuoka-city","en-US"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/fn187-cho-in-fukuoka-194.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98344,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73849\/revisions\/98344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}