Indonesian villagers learning Mandarin to interact with Chinese tourists 

JAKARTA, Indonesia (MNTV) — The memorable beauty of Indonesia’s tourist sites lies not only in their striking landscapes but also in the ambience of exchanges among people, including the way locals connect with visitors as best as they can, reports China Daily.

One such moment unfolded near Ijen Crater — popularly known as the “Sunrise of Java” — in Banyuwangi, East Java Province. Earlier this year, a video of a middle-aged villager living near the famous attraction went viral after she was seen warmly greeting Chinese visitors.

“This mango is 35,000 rupiah ($2) per kilogram. If you buy 3 kilos, it’s 100,000 altogether,” she said — in melodic Chinese. “This one is very sweet, and tomorrow it will taste even better,” added the traditionally veiled fruit vendor.

She is not alone. At the same spot, another video captured a man inviting Chinese tourists to his stall. Promising sweet durians and mangosteens, he even joked that if the fruit was not sweet, it would be free.

The videos circulating online show a group of Chinese visitors chatting with the fruit seller in astonishment, bursting into warm laughter when they learned she had taught herself Mandarin.

As China emerges as a leading source of global tourists, such viral moments — together with the rising number of Chinese holidaymakers to Indonesia — have reportedly encouraged villagers around Ijen and beyond to take up Mandarin.

Ijen Crater, a complex of composite volcanoes about 300 kilometers southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java and Indonesia’s second-largest city, has seen visitor numbers grow steadily in recent years. Alongside the increase, local villagers selling fruit and other goods at the site have worked hard to bridge the language gap with foreign travelers.

Today, Ijen stands among Java’s must-visit places, drawing not only Southeast Asian and Chinese tourists but also visitors from France, the United States, Japan and Russia.

While Java and nearby Bali remain Indonesia’s top islands for foreign tourists — with Chinese visitors currently leading arrivals in Bali, as they did even before the pandemic — other destinations across the country’s 17,000 islands are gaining ground with their beautiful mountains, pristine beaches and rich cultural heritage.

The rise in foreign visitors to these outer islands has convinced more locals that speaking a foreign language has now become a necessity. Even in Bali, reports suggest there is still a shortage of local guides with adequate Chinese-language skills.

Paul Edmundus Talo, group managing director at Floressa Bali Tours, said demand is growing not only for local guides but also for restaurant employees, hotel workers and others with good English and Mandarin.

Currently, many Chinese groups prefer to bring their own Chinese-speaking guides, he said.

“That’s why they are especially happy when they meet locals who can talk with them in Chinese — it adds a human touch to their journey.”

Talo, who began his tourism career after earning a bachelor’s degree from a Jakarta tourism academy and later completed a doctorate in tourism economics, has witnessed these trends firsthand.

His company, Floressa Bali Tours — based in Denpasar, the capital of Bali Province — serves both Indonesian and foreign holidaymakers, organizing trips to destinations across the archipelago, including the farthest islands beyond Bali and Java.

Many Chinese visitors, Talo said, have been exceptionally impressed by East Nusa Tenggara, where they can see the world’s largest lizards at Komodo National Park on Komodo Island and dive at nearby top sites.