The number of Chinese tourists visiting Britain has almost doubled in the past decade. The big draws include Cambridge and King's College, but not for the reasons you might think.

Another tour, taking in the sights. The Chinese visitors like most is King’s, and punting is a must. But Chang Liu, a student here, showed me what is at the very top of their list - just over a bridge, a piece of Chinese cultural history.

It says, "Gently I’m leaving, just like I gently came."

"A second farewell to Cambridge" is a peom taught to every child in China, written by Xu Zhimo, China’s most popular modernist poet. He studied at King's in the 20s, went on to become a Chinese icon.

"If I attend Oxford, or some good universities around the world, like Harvard or Princeton or Stanford, it would be just a good university. But when I am here, when I attend Cambridge, it is like a dream came true. [Because of that poem?] Yes," Chang Liu said.

The stone was placed in the grounds of King’s in 2008. Since then, numbers of Chinese visitors have swelled.

Mandarin is now common for all on the Cam. They know the importance of the poet.

"I didn’t find it amazing when I first learned how to say his name... And then the excitement they have when they do see the bridge - the bridge itself is pretty much the most boring one on the river - But the excitement that comes out of seeing the bridge is beautiful," punt chauffeur Roman Lutoslauski said.

On a rainy day in November, people from China filled every punt.

"Because we know the history and the story of Xu Zhimo, Cambridge, Xu Zhimo, 'Kangqiao' here, so we want to see, we want to experience that," a visitor said.

"The Chinese market is growing. Currently, about 350,000 Chinese visitors come to Britain, and that's predicted to go up to about a million by 2015. And Cambridge is an important stopoff on the Chinese grand tour," said Rod Ingersent, of Scudamore's Punting Company.

But who knew? Pulling them here is a poem they all know, about how hard it is to leave here.

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