For Chinese travelers who do make the journey, the experience often leaves a strong impression, one that has less to do with ticking off landmarks and more to do with moments of unexpected stillness.

Sun Yang, a traveler who documented his Ethiopia trip on Weibo, recently spent a few days in Lalibela, home to the famed rock-hewn churches. He found not just ancient architecture, but also a chance to slow down in ways he had not realized he needed.

"It felt like walking from one state into another. The hotel grounds were dotted with cacti, the air carried a hint of vanilla, and stone steps were scattered with rose petals," he writes.

He is impressed by an elderly man playing the masinko, a traditional Ethiopian fiddle also known as a masenqo, while waitresses sang and laughed as they worked.

"I suddenly felt a little unaccustomed to this warmth. It was too direct, without any sense of distance."

Ethiopia has marketed itself as "The Land of Origins" — the cradle of humankind and the birthplace of coffee, which the ambassador says are not abstract concepts but experiences designed for contemporary Chinese travelers.

He points to the national museum in Addis Ababa, where visitors can stand before "Lucy", the 3.2-million-year-old hominid fossil. But the journey does not end there.

"We offer excursions to archaeological sites in the Omo Valley, where ancient traditions still thrive among indigenous communities, allowing visitors to glimpse lifestyles that echo our earliest ancestors," he says.