While relaxation and “self-care” style retreats have been recently trending in the Chinese outbound tourism market, many travellers seeking a more dynamic getaway this summer are raring to go. With city breaks continuing to dominate demand from Chinese tourists in 2026, destinations offering culture, shopping, food and entertainment are standing out for bookings.
Who is travelling?
Chinese outbound tourism is currently shaped by several key demographics, each with distinct motivations for choosing city destinations. Gen Z travellers remain one of the fastest growing audiences in outbound tourism, prioritising social media worthy locations and opportunities to immerse themselves in local culture. Independent travel and flexible itineraries are particularly popular among younger tourists, who often rely on platforms like RedNote for travel inspiration.
At the same time, family travel has rebounded strongly, with parents increasingly seeking educational and culturally enriching experiences for children and teenagers. Multi-generational travel is also on the rise, with senior travellers becoming more confident in overseas travel again following the pandemic. Older Chinese tourists tend to favour destinations with strong infrastructure and guided experiences, making major cities particularly attractive.
Culture, Art and Landmarks
Among the top factors drawing Chinese travellers to the city, culture and art are highly valued. Young Chinese people are a crucial audience seeking to experience authentic local culture in the destinations that they visit. Driven by social media trends, Chinese Gen Z travellers gravitate towards immersive travel experiences, using their time abroad to explore local neighbourhoods, museums and historical landmarks.
Paris and Rome are long-time favourites for Chinese travellers due to their iconic landmarks and cultural heritage. Over the lockdown period, the percentage of Chinese tourists who wished to visit France for the first time was 91%, with Chinese tourism to Paris seeing a double-digit increase in 2024. This year, Paris remains one of the most sought-after city destinations for Chinese tourists. Attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum and Champs-Élysées have great cultural appeal, especially for first-time travellers. Similarly, Rome attracts visitors with historical landmarks such as the Colosseum and Vatican City.
Museums are particularly favoured by Chinese tourists for their cultural prestige, and are frequently discovered through social media platforms, with over 90 museums worldwide having an established and verified presence on RedNote; this includes leading institutions like the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Read more about what Chinese travellers expect from museums here.
Shopping
Shopping remains one of the major motivations behind Chinese city breaks, although spending habits are evolving. Milan continues to attract large numbers of Chinese tourists, visited year-round as a favoured luxury shopping destination. Districts like the Quadrilatero della Moda are particularly popular with Chinese tourists for designer fashion and premium brands.
Singapore has also emerged as a leading shopping destination for Chinese tourists, thanks to its luxury malls, tax advantages and reputation for safety and convenience. Areas such as Orchard Road and Marina Bay Sands attract affluent travellers seeking luxury retail experiences, while the city’s mix of international brands and Southeast Asian fashion labels appeals to younger consumers. Kuala Lumpur is similarly gaining popularity for shopping focused city breaks, particularly among middle class Chinese tourists seeking high end experiences at comparatively affordable prices. Malls such as Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Suria KLCC have become major shopping attractions to this audience.
London has long been considered one of the world’s premier destinations for shopping, with iconic department stores such as Selfridges in Oxford Street and Harrods in Knightsbridge, which spans seven floors and offers a wide range of fashion and gourmet food. However, the removal of tax-free shopping for international visitors has seriously affected spend on luxury goods in the United Kingdom, and London is losing out to other European cities. Chinese visitors to the UK will still shop, but the focus is now on the lower spend items, such as buying vintage clothes in various markets, high quality souvenirs from museum shops, or locally made goods from artisan boutiques.
Food
Food is a central pillar of the travelling experience for Chinese tourists when visiting city destinations. Dining is culturally significant in Chinese culture, offering a means of social connection and a chance to discover traditional dishes when abroad. Chinese travellers will actively seek out local cuisine, food markets and neighbourhood dining spots when visiting new cities as authentic experiences help them to feel more connected to the location.
Penang, particularly its capital George Town, is gaining traction with Chinese tourists for its UNESCO-listed heritage and renowned food scene. Known as Malaysia’s food capital, Penang is a vibrant hub of traditional and inspired flavours, having a diverse range of food options influenced by Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai and European cuisines. The majority of its street-food stalls have been standing for decades, serving local delicacies which are popular with Chinese tourists.
Manchester is also becoming better known among Chinese visitors, especially among younger travellers exploring cities beyond London. The city’s diverse mix of international dining, independent cafés and modern British cuisine aligns strongly with the interests of food focused tourists, particularly those discovering destinations through social media and influencer content. Guanxi recently collaborated on an influencer campaign highlighting Manchester’s food culture and showcasing the city’s growing appeal to Chinese travellers.
Restaurants and other food-related businesses have the potential to go viral online through platforms like RedNote- those producing food-related travel content online tend to value visually pleasing venues for photographs as well as unique culinary concepts. Users of RedNote will often use the platform to search for food recommendations relevant to the city they’re visiting ahead of their stay, so trusted and verifiable sources that give an honest account of the dining experience are highly valuable.
Live music
As China has some restrictions on which western musicians can expand their tours there, many Chinese travellers will use city breaks as a way to experience live music, often expanding their trips beyond the concert or festival dates so that they can make the most of their stay. This growing trend has been dubbed ‘concert tourism’ and is sure to contribute to the Chinese Outbound Travel market in 2026 with several major bands and musicians going on tour, such as the globally adored K-pop boyband BTS.
Since BTS are only scheduled to perform in Hong Kong in 2027, with no mainland China shows for their upcoming tour, we can expect their many Chinese fans to travel further afield in order to see them, resulting in significant spending. This prediction is based off previous trends in concert tourism: find out Guanxi’s insights of the top 5 most popular music acts in China, and just how far their fans will go for them, here.
Since 2024, when visa restrictions were lifted for Chinese tourists visiting Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, these three destinations in Southeast Asia have seen significant attention and are among the most popular for Chinese travel in 2026. Within them, cities like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur stand out as major hubs for concert tourism, both of which can be fulfilled in a short-haul city break from China.
City walks
City walks have been a growing trend over the last year, offering Chinese tourists the chance to explore the cities they visit at a slower pace. Many city walks consist of independent exploration and are therefore popular with young, solo travellers: curated routes can be found on social media and offer a variety of focal points such as architecture or street art, as well as food and shopping. Discover more about the booming #citywalk trend in our associated articles here.
Educational tourism
Many parents are choosing to visit prestigious university cities with their children and teenagers, especially to introduce long-term educational aspirations. Cities such as Oxford and Cambridge have always attracted significant interest due to the global prestige associated with their universities. Chinese families will often incorporate campus visits into wider UK itineraries.
However, this trend extends beyond the UK. In the United States, cities such as Boston and New York attract Chinese families interested in viewing world-renowned institutions including Harvard University, MIT and Columbia University. In Australia, Melbourne and Sydney remain key destinations linked to educational ambitions, while Canadian cities such as Toronto and Vancouver continue to benefit from strong interest in overseas study opportunities.
For many Chinese families, these trips serve as opportunities to inspire younger generations and familiarise them with potential future study destinations. Read more about how Chinese student ambitions are shaping outbound travel trends here.
Lesser-known cities
Aside from these thriving city destinations, Chinese travellers are showing more interest in travelling to those that are smaller, or lesser-known. Reykjavik, for example, has benefited from growinsg interest in Nordic travel, particularly among younger tourists seeking unique landscapes and “bucket-list” experiences, like the Aurora Borealis, that perform well on social media.
Secondary cities in South Korea and Thailand are also gaining traction. Destinations such as Busan are attracting visitors for their coastal scenery and relaxed atmosphere, while Chiang Mai in Thailand appeals to travellers looking for wellness and slower-paced city experiences. As Chinese tourists become more confident and experienced international travellers, interest in discovering less conventional urban destinations is expected to continue growing.
City breaks will continue to be extremely popular with Chinese tourists throughout 2026 – don’t miss out on this opportunity to make your brand known. For help promoting your city, contact Guanxi here.