Inbound tourism surges on curiosity about evolving China

Active immersion

The shift from passive sightseeing to active immersion has been quietly reshaping China's inbound tourism industry.

On a March morning in suburban Beijing, Yang Li stood between a dozen foreign diplomats and a fully automated assembly line.

His job was to explain the factory's operations, but he soon realized the diplomats wanted China's overall transformation explained. "They were eager to know how the country built this," he recalled.

For nearly three decades, Yang had made his living explaining China's past — its dynasties, emperors, temples and ancient walls. Now, standing above a humming production floor where robotic arms moved in synchronization and driverless carts glided between workstations, he found himself explaining not just how the machines worked, but how China learned to produce them at scale.

The March visit had been arranged by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism for foreign diplomats stationed in Beijing. "They didn't go to see the Great Wall. They came here to see why China can do this," he recalled.

For generations, China's inbound tourism narrative rested on familiar pillars: the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors. Visitors came to witness the remnants of an ancient civilization.

"Today, many international visitors no longer come only to admire China's past. They also want to understand its present — how factories operate, how cities function, how innovation is reshaping daily life and how traditions continue to evolve alongside rapid modernization," Yang said.

Spanish clients have asked to visit smart factories in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, while in Changsha, Hunan province, Romanian travel groups requested tours of electric vehicle production lines, he said.

A 2026 Trip.com Group survey of more than 500 inbound tourism operators found that nearly two-thirds identified meeting diverse visitor demands as their biggest challenge. More than 80 percent reported overseas visitors' growing interest in experiences beyond traditional sightseeing.

Tour operator Li Jieming is based in Zhangjiajie, Hunan. The city's best-known attraction is the cluster of sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in the film Avatar.

Three years ago, overseas visitors accounted for only a tiny share of his business. Today, they comprise around 60 percent.

The turning point came after China expanded visa-free entry policies for a growing number of countries in 2024.

"When I heard about the visa-free policy, I knew the number of inbound visitors would increase," Li said. "And Zhangjiajie already had something foreigners recognized — the Avatar mountains."

But his ability to seize the opportunity soon collided with new challenges: workers with foreign-language skills were scarce, and he had little overseas marketing experience.

Li began recruiting wherever he could find candidates — language schools, trading companies and returnees with international experience. His first international team consisted of just four people.

They posted videos of Zhangjiajie's landscapes on Facebook and handled inquiries one by one. Their first booking came from a Spanish couple who discovered the company online.

"We didn't make money on that booking," Li said with a laugh. "We just wanted to see if it could work."

By the spring of 2025, inquiries began arriving in waves. Today, Li's company employs more than 20 people serving international clients, and inbound tourism has become the core of the business.