Albany to get Chinese boost

Albany will be featured in the National Geographic Traveler Chinese edition after a journalist-photographer visited the city.

Bi Yuanyue, who lives in the US state of New Jersey, but works for the Beijing-based magazine, arrived on Monday, March 10, to tour the Great Southern for a week.

He will put together a destination story about Albany and the region for the National Geographic Traveler Chinese version, which claims to have a readership of some 7.2 million people.

In his first trip to Australia, Mr Bi visited Albany, Porongurup, Kojonup, Denmark, and will attend Taste Great Southern events and do the Stirling Ranges walk.

“We’ve been eating and drinking, we’ve visited a lot of places, a couple of vineyards, the whaling station,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful place, I’ve really enjoyed it, they keep it beautiful.”

Mr Bi said he enjoyed “everything”, including a boat ride on Sail-A-Way and time at Oranje Tractor.

The journalist started at the magazine in 2004 and usually works in Europe, America, Canada and Latin America.

The trip was funded by the City of Albany, Taste Great Southern, Great Southern Development Commission and Virgin Australia.