IN 2015, the Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou chose Selby Abbey as the venue for his wedding to Australian actress Hannah Quinlivan. The pair then held their reception at Castle Howard.

Chou is huge in mainland China. So his Yorkshire wedding had an unforeseen but very welcome consequence - a huge influx of Chinese visitors keen to take selfies at the abbey and at the great country house where their hero had got married.

It just shows how things have changed. Once it was American tourists who brought the big bucks. But now, according to VisitBritain director Patricia Yates, it is Chinese visitors who spend the most.

Michelle Brown, Visit York’s marketing manager, has just returned from Guangzhou, where she had 40 one-to-one meetings with representatives from some of China’s most high-profile travel companies.

She returned full of enthusiasm. Chinese tour operators were particularly interested in York’s Harry Potter-themed Shop That Must Not Be Named in Shambles - and, of course, in Castle Howard. But they were also interested in shopping at Pandora, Fenwick and the designer outlet - and in afternoon tea, York Minster and Jorvik. There had even been interest in fish and chips, Michelle said.

With new, direct flights from Beijing to Manchester Airport, York is now easier to get to than ever for Chinese visitors. To make sure they know where to come, 35,000 copies of a guide to the city in Mandarin Chinese have been delivered at airlines and arrival lounges. It’s a huge opportunity. So we need to be ready to give this new wave of tourists a big Yorkshire welcome.

All together now: ‘Huanyin nimen dao Yueke lai!' And yes, that’s ‘Welcome to York’ in Mandarin...