A separate Xinhua feature published on 19 February paints a qualitative picture that dovetails with the NIA numbers: international visitors are no longer satisfied with whistle-stop photo-ops at the Great Wall. From lion-dance workshops in Beijing to hot-spring homestays in Chongqing, travellers are demanding hands-on experiences that link visa-free convenience with cultural authenticity.
Arrivals data illustrate the shift. Three charter flights from Vladivostok landed in Sanya in the early hours of New-Year’s Eve, carrying 570 Russian holiday-makers on packages that combine beach breaks with bamboo-dance classes and Hainan coffee-roasting sessions. Online-travel-agency Qunar reports that flight bookings by non-Chinese passport-holders now span 102 domestic cities, indicating that secondary hubs such as Changsha and Harbin are breaking Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou’s monopoly on inbound demand.
VisaHQ can smooth this surge in multi-city travel. Through its China resource centre (https://www.visahq.com/china/), the platform offers up-to-date visa guidance, digital document submission and concierge assistance that help individual tourists and corporate assignees alike secure the right entry status before they touch down in Sanya, Changsha or any of the 100-plus airports now welcoming foreigners.
![Foreign tourists seek deeper cultural immersion as ‘China travel’ meets Lantern-Festival climax]()
For corporate-relocation programmes this matters in two ways. First, the dispersion of foreign visitors is putting pressure on smaller airports and local public-security bureaus that may be less familiar with work-permit renewals or dependent-visa endorsements; assignee support services must adapt accordingly. Second, the appetite for “live like a local” products is already influencing expatriate-destination choices, with firms in Chengdu, Xi’an and Qingdao telling mobility advisers they can now attract foreign talent more easily because families see those cities on TikTok travel videos.
Policy makers are leaning in. Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce last week released a 1 billion-yuan grant to 15 pilot cities tasked with building “international consumption corridors”—pedestrian zones where duty-free shopping, mobile-payment kiosks and English-language way-finding are mandated. Mobility professionals should monitor these roll-outs; they often come with local tax rebates for foreign experts who buy property or vehicles within the corridor limits.
From a practical standpoint, HR teams planning short-term assignments during the Lantern-Festival finale on 23 February should book rail tickets early. China Railway has warned that foreign-passport users must collect paper tickets at stations because automated scanners on the Beijing–Xi’an and Shanghai–Suzhou intercity lines are still being upgraded for facial-recognition boarding.
Arrivals data illustrate the shift. Three charter flights from Vladivostok landed in Sanya in the early hours of New-Year’s Eve, carrying 570 Russian holiday-makers on packages that combine beach breaks with bamboo-dance classes and Hainan coffee-roasting sessions. Online-travel-agency Qunar reports that flight bookings by non-Chinese passport-holders now span 102 domestic cities, indicating that secondary hubs such as Changsha and Harbin are breaking Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou’s monopoly on inbound demand.
VisaHQ can smooth this surge in multi-city travel. Through its China resource centre (https://www.visahq.com/china/), the platform offers up-to-date visa guidance, digital document submission and concierge assistance that help individual tourists and corporate assignees alike secure the right entry status before they touch down in Sanya, Changsha or any of the 100-plus airports now welcoming foreigners.
For corporate-relocation programmes this matters in two ways. First, the dispersion of foreign visitors is putting pressure on smaller airports and local public-security bureaus that may be less familiar with work-permit renewals or dependent-visa endorsements; assignee support services must adapt accordingly. Second, the appetite for “live like a local” products is already influencing expatriate-destination choices, with firms in Chengdu, Xi’an and Qingdao telling mobility advisers they can now attract foreign talent more easily because families see those cities on TikTok travel videos.
Policy makers are leaning in. Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce last week released a 1 billion-yuan grant to 15 pilot cities tasked with building “international consumption corridors”—pedestrian zones where duty-free shopping, mobile-payment kiosks and English-language way-finding are mandated. Mobility professionals should monitor these roll-outs; they often come with local tax rebates for foreign experts who buy property or vehicles within the corridor limits.
From a practical standpoint, HR teams planning short-term assignments during the Lantern-Festival finale on 23 February should book rail tickets early. China Railway has warned that foreign-passport users must collect paper tickets at stations because automated scanners on the Beijing–Xi’an and Shanghai–Suzhou intercity lines are still being upgraded for facial-recognition boarding.
