Inbound tourism surges on curiosity about evolving China

Deeper dive

Yang, one of China's first nationally certified gold tour guides, has witnessed nearly every stage of the industry's modern development.

The change, he said, has been particularly noticeable in recent years."Before, visitors listened to whatever you told them. Now they ask why," he said.

At the Great Wall, foreign tourists' curiosity isn't restricted to basic questions about its length, age or the construction techniques of the structure.

Instead, they want to know why the Great Wall occupies such an important place in the Chinese identity, Yang said. "One visitor even asked why it appears in China's national anthem," he said.

Yang's explanation begins with the ancient beacon towers that once signaled danger along China's northern frontier, and ends with the phrase from the national anthem — "using our flesh and blood to build a new Great Wall" — showing how a military defense system gradually evolved into a national symbol of endurance and unity.

He said an increasing number of overseas visitors make sense of modern China by comparing it with their own country's culture and history.

Spanish travelers draw parallels between the Great Wall and the Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex in Granada, while visitors from Latin America connect Chinese history with their own experiences of colonialism and nation-building, he shared.

For guides, this means understanding not only China but also the perspectives visitors bring with them. "If you don't understand their cultural background, you can't make the comparison meaningful," Yang said.

One Spanish architect, for example, asked him why Chinese walls were built with rammed earth while Spanish fortresses used stone. Yang didn't have a textbook answer but replied: "Different threats. Different materials. Different emperors."

The visitor nodded, and Yang said that was the moment he understood his real job.

At the end of May, nearly 2,000 tourism executives and industry professionals from 67 countries and regions gathered along the Lijiang River in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, for one of China's largest inbound tourism events hosted by the local government and Trip.com Group.

Actor and filmmaker Jackie Chan, recently named an inbound tourism ambassador by Trip.com Group, greeted the crowd.

"My mission used to be bringing Chinese films to the world," he said."Now my mission is bringing the world to China."

A giant illuminated passport appeared in the night sky during a drone show. Moments later, a golden dragon flew through it as the words "VISA FREE" lit up the sky above the crowd.

The image captured one of the biggest changes driving China's inbound tourism recovery — the steady expansion of visa-free policies and the gradual removal of barriers that once discouraged international visitors.