On March 19, the Wenzhou Exit-Entry Frontier Inspection Station, in collaboration with the Wenzhou Oversea Media Center and Wenzhou University, organized over ten Chinese and international students from eight countries to visit the Shuomen Ancient Port site—a national key cultural heritage site—immersing them in the customs culture and open spirit of Wenzhou’s millennium-old commercial port. The event featured Italian sinologist Gabri (Tang Yun), an honorary citizen of Wenzhou, who joined border inspection officers and students in exploring Song Dynasty Maritime Silk Road relics, witnessing Wenzhou’s thousand-year history of openness, and discussing civilizational exchange.  

As the most intact land-and-water port site from the Song Dynasty, the Shuomen ancient port site once thrived as "a prosperous maritime hub." At the event, border officers and media center staff explained in Chinese and English the customs system in Song Dynasty for merchant ships, as recorded in The Annals of Wenzhou Port: "During the Northern Song Yuanfeng period, Wenzhou established a Maritime Trade Office. Ships from Goryeo (Korea), Siam (Thailand), and beyond underwent inspection, documentation, and tax payments here, while porcelain and silk set sail for overseas markets." Mike, a Nigerian student, gently touched unearthed fragments of Song Dynasty export porcelain and marveled, "This port was built three centuries earlier than Venice’s water city. These ceramic remnants still echo the glory of a thousand years ago."  

At the site, border officers recreated a Song Dynasty Haibo Gongping (maritime vessel clearance certificate) and simulated ancient customs declaration procedures. "Inspections once took ten days, but today, ships clear customs online in moments," explained Liu Pengsheng, a border inspection officer. "From Maritime Trade Offices to smart ports, technology evolves, but Wenzhou’s open spirit of ‘striving for maritime strength’ endures." In 2024, Wenzhou Port’s container throughput surpassed 1.5 million TEUs, with new Belt and Road routes and the Jinliwen(Jinhua-Lishui-Wenzhou) Open Corridor revitalizing the ancient port as a global hub.