In Quanzhou, a coastal city in eastern Fujian province, the small fishing village of Xunpu has become an unlikely tourism phenomenon in recent years.
The village spans just 1.5 square kilometers and is home to fewer than 8,000 residents. Yet in 2024, it welcomed 8.5 million visitors and generated over 1.8 billion yuan ($250 million) in tourism revenue.
The biggest attraction is a traditional flower headdress, part of the local women's culture for centuries. The craft was inscribed on China's intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. For 15 years, it remained a quiet tradition. Then, in 2023, it exploded on social media. Young women began traveling to Xunpu specifically to wear the flowers and pose for photographs.
Why did this happen now? According to the Green Book of China's Tourism — an annual report compiled by the Tourism Research Centre of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences — the answer lies in the emotional value that Chinese travelers now seek. The headdress, the report suggests, offers more than novelty. It embodies aspirations for beauty and connection to a romanticized past.
The Xunpu phenomenon, the report points out, is part of an ongoing fundamental shift in which tourism is moving beyond sightseeing and becoming a search for meaning and authenticity.
Song Rui, chief editor of the Green Book, notes that the timing of the book's publication is pivotal, as the country has entered its 15th Five-Year Plan period, which runs from 2026 to 2030.
"For the first time, the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan includes the goal of building China into a tourism powerhouse," Song said at the book's launch ceremony in Beijing in late March.
The inclusion, she suggests, reflects a broader recognition of tourism's expanded role — not only as an economic driver but as a force for cultural dissemination, technological innovation, and social inclusion.
The proof, the book points out, lies in the intensified policy support from central and local governments throughout 2025, which steadily stimulated cultural and tourism consumption.
Yet, policy is only one part of a broader transformation. Market demand has diversified, with "emotional value" becoming a key driver, Song explains.
People now travel to attend sports events, concerts, or festivals, seeking not entertainment but emotional fulfillment.
Experiential spaces have become the new frontier, as traditional ticketed attractions give way to multilayered experiences where tourism intersects with technology, commerce and daily life, Song says.
Geographic hot spots have dispersed from the eastern coast to smaller cities and counties, which became popular last year, especially among travelers seeking authenticity and value, she adds.
The book shows how the cultural and tourism integration has evolved from isolated efforts, like a museum adding a cafe, to what Song calls a "systematic" integration. In this deeper model, cultural intellectual property is no longer just an add-on, but shapes every part of the tourism experience.
Many heritage sites have evolved from being simply a place to visit into a world for visitors to inhabit, complete with themed dining, retail, performances and digital extensions, the Green Book notes.
Sports and commerce have followed a similar trajectory, with events like eastern Jiangsu province's Super League — a provincial amateur football tournament — drawing tens of thousands of spectators.
According to the Green Book, the appeal of these matches is not athletic excellence but something closer to local pride, nostalgia and community bonding. It notes that single games have seen nearly 30 percent of attendees traveling from other cities.
Wu Jinmei, associate editor of the book, observes that events like these are no longer just sports. They have become cultural phenomena — platforms for regional identity and tourism promotion rolled into one.
She adds that cultural exhibitions have also become urban landmarks, commercial spaces have been reimagined as destinations, and intellectual property-themed venues attract niche communities.
Among the major transformations of the country's tourism market, inbound tourism has stood out.
Song, the chief editor, observes that beyond the classic sightseeing itinerary of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, foreign visitors now seek to "become Chinese" and want to navigate a local market, order street food, and visit a neighborhood bathhouse.
The shift reflects a deeper change that inbound tourism is no longer just about driving consumption, Song explains, adding that it has become a vital channel for international communication and cultural exchange and a way for international visitors to encounter an authentic China.
The changes reshaping the industry, the book reveals, are not only about what travelers want but also about how the industry delivers it. Technology is rewriting the rules from the inside.
Jin Zhun, secretary-general of the Tourism Research Centre, points to generative artificial intelligence as a quiet revolution. Systems can now produce personalized travel videos for individual visitors and create virtual companions that adapt to a traveler's mood and interests. The result, Jin says, is a level of personalization that was previously unimaginable and a fundamental recalibration of what a travel service can be.
Investment patterns have shifted in parallel. Li Xinjian, a professor at Beijing International Studies University, says that capital now flows toward innovation and integration rather than scale alone.
The rush to build megaprojects more than a decade ago — on the assumption that construction alone would draw visitors — has given way to a search for ways to connect a project with culture, technology and community.
Governance is evolving to match the industry's complexity. As Song notes, a 2025 State Council document clarified the responsibilities of 11 government ministries for tourism market supervision, which is a recognition that tourism, touching transport, commerce, culture and public security, requires coordinated oversight.
Perhaps the most significant trend, according to the Green Book, is the blurring of traditional boundaries between tourism and daily life, and between urban and rural spaces. During the 2025 National Day holiday, the report says, rural residents accounted for 22 percent of more than 100 million domestic travelers.
Meanwhile, more than 40 percent of urban tourists chose smaller county-level destinations, seeking authenticity and value. Places like Liancheng in Fujian and Arxan in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Green Book says, have leveraged local cultural assets, including intangible cultural heritage, contemporary art, and music festivals, to attract visitors.
The report describes this as a "two-way flow" between urban and rural markets.
Throughout the presentations at the book launch, a recurring theme was China's evolution from follower to innovator in tourism.
"Ten years ago, when we had a new idea for tourism development, the first thing we thought was: 'Is there a corresponding case abroad?'" Li recalls.
Today, he believes, China has reached a stage where it no longer needs to look abroad for validation.
"We should have the confidence that we can also lead the trend in international tourism development."
The story of Xunpu village is a preview of China tourism's future, the Green Book suggests.
In a world where material needs are increasingly met, people travel seeking emotional resonance, cultural connection and authentic experiences, it says.
The future of tourism in China, as Song sees it, is about recognizing that travel, at its core, is a deeply human activity and can enrich lives and build bridges across cultures.
If you have any problems with this article, please contact us at app@chinadaily.com.cn and we'll immediately get back to you.
