Since December 14, prominent cultural figures such as Xu Zhiyuan and Liu Qing have sparked a wave of online conversation about the city’s distinctive character and its global connections. Xu Zhiyuan, a renowned writer and host of a cultural interview program, initiated the dialogue with his impressions of Ningbo. Having traveled extensively, he compared Ningbo’s Sanjiangkou (Three Rivers Estuary) to other port cities like Montreal and Macao, emphasizing the inherent inclusiveness of port cities.