A minimalist villa nestled among lush forests, misty limestone peaks and cinematic skyline views: striking Instagram reels like these finally convinced Claire Thum to make her first trip to China.
Thum knew only of terracotta warriors until Chinese travel content began regularly popping up on her feed. Highlights included a visit to the viral perfumery To Summer with its signature garden, a snowboarding simulation experience and picking out winter clothes at Japanese sportswear store Descente. That campaign got off to a slow start, as memories of Covid curbs hurt the country’s reputation and flight routes took time to come back. But now tourists appear to be returning much faster. “It was a great journey, it was wonderful.
The 28-year-old Singaporean is one of millions of foreign tourists who visited the country in 2025, when arrivals and tourist spending surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time. After years of pandemic restrictions, in 2023 China launched a massive push to win back tourists with the gradual introduction of visa-free travel for 50 countries.
“To me, the first step to exploring more of China was to dip my toes into Shanghai,” she said. AI tourist guide Kora is one of several new business ideas helping to ease the friction by simplifying ride-hailing and restaurant reservations and providing a chatbot that has served tens of thousands of visitors since its launch earlier this year, said Rok, its founder. It was in my top two best travels for food, along with India,” he said, adding that he went home with a few packs of Chinese cigarettes, which were six times cheaper than in France.
