Mid-holiday data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism show that inbound tourism revenue for the period 15–20 February rose 18.7 percent year-on-year, fuelled by bundled ‘culture-plus-mobility’ products that combine high-speed-rail passes with entry to heritage sites. Xinhua’s Saturday report highlights that scenic spots offering immersive shows—such as the Tang Dynasty Everbright City in Xi’an—saw foreign footfall increase by up to 40 percent compared with 2025. (english.news.cn)
Local tour operators have partnered with China Railway’s foreign-card payment pilot to let visitors book multi-city itineraries from a single app. A German business traveller, for example, can fly into Shanghai, hop on a G-train to Suzhou for a day of plant visits, and continue to Hangzhou for a night-time light show without queuing for tickets. The simplified journey is already changing corporate travel patterns: Deloitte China says several clients have extended post-audit leisure days for inbound staff, blurring the line between business and leisure (bleisure) travel.
Hotspots outside Tier-1 regions are benefitting most. In Guizhou, the new ‘Miao Village Express’ charter coach route linked to Guiyang North Station has attracted French and Thai tourists on two-day visas issued at Shanghai Pudong. Meanwhile, Chengdu’s wide-body runway expansion has unlocked additional charter capacity from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, feeding passengers into Sichuan’s panda-themed cultural circuits.
![Cultural Tourism Packages Spur Foreign Visitor Spend During Festival Break]()
Travelers looking to take advantage of these routes can streamline their paperwork as well: VisaHQ’s dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) guides applicants through the latest visa requirements, processing times, and compliance tips—handy for first-time holidaymakers and HR teams managing complex bleisure itineraries alike.
For HR teams, the trend carries compliance ramifications. Employees who tack leisure days onto business trips must still observe China’s outbound exchange-rate and cash-reporting limits; several Western firms have updated travel policies to remind staff of the RMB 20,000 cash ceiling at customs. Additionally, allowances may need adjusting: hotel rates in Xi’an’s cultural district jumped 55 percent during the holiday.
The government views culture-driven travel as strategic soft power. Saturday’s Xinhua commentary urged provinces to translate museum audio guides into ‘the ten languages of China’s major trading partners’ by year-end—a boon for non-Mandarin speakers on assignment. Expectations are that the next policy package in April will widen the digital-payment pilot to cover UnionPay QR codes linked to foreign cards, further simplifying inbound mobility.
Local tour operators have partnered with China Railway’s foreign-card payment pilot to let visitors book multi-city itineraries from a single app. A German business traveller, for example, can fly into Shanghai, hop on a G-train to Suzhou for a day of plant visits, and continue to Hangzhou for a night-time light show without queuing for tickets. The simplified journey is already changing corporate travel patterns: Deloitte China says several clients have extended post-audit leisure days for inbound staff, blurring the line between business and leisure (bleisure) travel.
Hotspots outside Tier-1 regions are benefitting most. In Guizhou, the new ‘Miao Village Express’ charter coach route linked to Guiyang North Station has attracted French and Thai tourists on two-day visas issued at Shanghai Pudong. Meanwhile, Chengdu’s wide-body runway expansion has unlocked additional charter capacity from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, feeding passengers into Sichuan’s panda-themed cultural circuits.
Travelers looking to take advantage of these routes can streamline their paperwork as well: VisaHQ’s dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) guides applicants through the latest visa requirements, processing times, and compliance tips—handy for first-time holidaymakers and HR teams managing complex bleisure itineraries alike.
For HR teams, the trend carries compliance ramifications. Employees who tack leisure days onto business trips must still observe China’s outbound exchange-rate and cash-reporting limits; several Western firms have updated travel policies to remind staff of the RMB 20,000 cash ceiling at customs. Additionally, allowances may need adjusting: hotel rates in Xi’an’s cultural district jumped 55 percent during the holiday.
The government views culture-driven travel as strategic soft power. Saturday’s Xinhua commentary urged provinces to translate museum audio guides into ‘the ten languages of China’s major trading partners’ by year-end—a boon for non-Mandarin speakers on assignment. Expectations are that the next policy package in April will widen the digital-payment pilot to cover UnionPay QR codes linked to foreign cards, further simplifying inbound mobility.
