(Original title: Foreign tourists are awakened by China: Europe is so backward)

The Network of Observers.

From unmanned taxis on the street to drone take-out and robot waiters, these "futuristic" scenes have long become daily routine in China. With their frequent screens on overseas social media, they not only attract a large number of overseas audiences, but also attract them to China.

"Tourists are flowing to China to see the future of Cyberpunk."Hong Kong "South China Morning Post" on August 29 that today, more and more foreign tourists are traveling to China to experience this technological boom.

from fromGermanyViewers watch Chinese robots

Marc Guyon, a Frenchman living in Hong Kong, China, decided to travel to Shanghai in early August, where his focus was not on the city¡¯s decorative artistic buildings, but on self-driving taxis and hotel delivery robots.

"It's so shocking. China looks like the future world," Mark said."It seems that all foreigners have the same reaction. Many people share this content online, and so do I."

The South China Morning Post noted that this situation is becoming increasingly widespread, driven by social media, overseas is sparking a Chinese "technology tourism" - tourists fly to China specifically to experience advanced technology and urban landscapes.

In recent years, with China¡¯s visa-free policy easing, foreign tourists have grown rapidly.At the same time, overseas social media content about Chinese travel has also shown explosive growth.

On the short video platform TikTok, the number of videos tagged ¡°#chinatravel¡± has exceeded 21.5 million, one-third of which has been uploaded in the past year. Many popular posts portray China¡¯s major cities as science fiction destinations, focusing on showcasing scenes that make many overseas viewers feel ¡°full of a sense of the future¡±, such as handwashing payments, drone outsourcing, driverless taxis, and so on.

Foreign tourists interact with a quadruped robot in Chengdu, Sichuan, July 30, 2025

Chongqing, located in southwest China, is known as the "cyberpunk capital" of China. Many videos posted on Instagram Reels, YouTube and other platforms marvel at the spectacular urban landscape here.

According to the report, the videos are very popular and appear to have had an impact on the tourism industry. Nora Qu Ou, head of China Highlights, a travel agency, said the demand for "tech travel" to China has increased dramatically in recent years.

"We are finding that more and more overseas tourists, especially from Europe and Singapore, are asking us to include technology experiences in their itineraries." Nora said.

She said that these needs include the experience of driverless cars, or ordering a takeaway delivered by drones at the Great Wall. For many customers, these experiences have become travel highlights.

Nora said that the satisfaction of these projects is extremely high. "Customers tell us that this is the moment that impresses them the most."

As early as 2018, "China Highlights" began to incorporate technology elements into tourists' itineraries. At that time, the popular experience was still new things such as QR code payment and smart convenience stores. Today, the digital lifestyle is integrated into the daily life of Chinese people. Nora said that foreign tourists often download Alipay or WeChat before arriving in China.

China Highlights is now focused on providing ¡°interactive experiences¡± for foreign visitors, such as taking them to restaurants equipped with robots, supermarkets that deliver goods through roof-hanging shipping, or taking them on a high-speed train.

A foreign audience asked technicians about the use scenarios of service robots and the possibility of landing applications in their own country

According to the report, it is not just Chinese travel agencies that offer such experiences, but some overseas travel companies also hope to have a place in China's "technology tourism" wave.

Ed Sander, a Dutch business consultant and China technology enthusiast, launched the "China Technology Journey" as early as 2018. Since 2023, Sandel has been providing guided tours to overseas tourist groups of 10 to 20 people, taking them to visit facilities operated by China technology companies such as Alibaba and Xiaomi, and to experience projects such as delivery robots and high-speed rail.

This way of traveling not only attracts foreign technology enthusiasts, but also investors who want to know about China's innovation ecology. They tend to be shocked by what they see, Sandel said.

"Many participants were surprised by how advanced China is," Mr. Sandel said. "Previously, their impression [of China] was often influenced by biased western media. After the tour, their view of China became more objective."

For some, such a contrast would even shock them, Sandel said: ¡°They realize how fast the development is here, and how slow the development is in Europe, it¡¯s a bit like being drunk in the head.¡±

The report noted that with China's further easing of border policy, the tourism boom to China seems to continue.

At present, China has implemented unilateral or comprehensive visa exemption for 75 countries; the number of transit visa-free countries has been expanded to 55, and the length of stay has been extended to 240 hours.

The data of the National Immigration Administration show that in the first half of 2025, the number of foreigners entering and leaving the country steadily increased, reaching 3805.3 million, an increase of 30.2%; of which, visa-free foreigners entered 13.64 million times, accounted for 71.2% of foreigners entering the country, an increase of 53.9% compared to the same period.

China's two well-known technology centers, Shanghai and Shenzhen, have also seen significant increases in the number of foreign tourists. Official data shows that in the first half of 2025, Shenzhen received 984,100 foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 44.7%; Shanghai received 3.121 million foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 53.3%.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Zheng said earlier that the enthusiasm for foreign tourists to come to China has risen, the immersive experience has continued to escalate, and China can not be separated from the implementation of a series of facilitating Chinese personnel measures such as expanding the scope of visa-free countries.

Lin Jian said: "We will further optimize and improve policies and measures such as visa exemption, and actively improve the convenience of foreigners coming to China. China's doors are always open, and open arms are waiting for you!"