.png?w=1024)
For decades, the global tech pilgrimage pointed toward Silicon Valley. That route is now starting to split.
A growing number of founders, investors, students, and curious travelers are heading instead to Chinese tech hubs like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Hangzhou to see how fast the country’s innovation engine is moving. The shift is giving rise to what many are calling tech tourism: curated trips centered on factories, AI startups, robotics labs, and smart manufacturing zones.
Some of these trips are highly curated and can cost up to $9,000, offering access to EV factories, robotaxi demonstrations, AI startups, and robotics companies that are often closed to ordinary tourists, according to a report from Rest of World.
What once lived in investor reports or viral videos is now being packaged as an on-the-ground experience.
These trips are not casual sightseeing tours. They typically run for three to five days and are branded with names like “Shanghai AI and Robotics Innovation Tour” or “EV and Battery Deep Dive.” Visitors move through factory floors, startup incubators, and industry conferences, often with private Q&A sessions involving company executives.
The companies on the itinerary are carefully selected symbols of China’s tech rise, including EV giant BYD, robotics firm Unitree Robotics, and AI startup DeepSeek.
As Rest of World reports, the appeal is not just curiosity, but access. Many visitors describe seeing production lines and robotics systems that are otherwise closed to the public.
One investor, Chetan Shah, told Rest of World: “They are a little bit expensive, to be honest… But there’s access to things I can’t buy. … I can go as a tourist to visit BYD, but I will not be allowed to go beyond the showroom.”
FOMO, curiosity, and competitive pressure
Beyond curiosity, a sense of urgency also drives demand. Shaoyu Yuan, an adjunct professor at New York University specializing in China’s soft power, told Rest of World that a “fear-of-missing-out dynamic” is shaping interest in China’s tech ecosystem.
“There’s a fear-of-missing-out dynamic at play: the sense that China’s tech ecosystem has reached a level of sophistication where not seeing it firsthand puts you at an informational disadvantage relative to competitors who have,” Yuan said.
He added that firsthand exposure often changes how visitors evaluate global competition in sectors like manufacturing and EVs.
What started as informal curiosity has quickly turned into a growing industry. Entrepreneurs are now building full tourism businesses around China’s industrial and tech ecosystem. One operator in Shanghai, GloPen, has hosted more than 1,000 visitors in under two years, according to Rest of World.
Founder Boyang Shen said the market gap was clear. “There are many competitors in the consulting business,” Shen told Rest of World, “but there is a gap in the market for an all-inclusive, immersive experience.”
Most of his clients come from Southeast Asia, India, and Europe, with growing interest from the US and Brazil. Other firms are targeting even younger audiences. Tech-focused programs are now being designed for students and families, aiming to expose teenagers to robotics, AI labs, and engineering environments before they enter higher education.
Smart tourism as a national strategy
China’s push is not happening by accident. According to Travel and Tour World, smart tourism is now part of national planning, integrating artificial intelligence, virtual reality, big data, and immersive technologies into the design and management of travel.
The goal is to make tourism more interactive, one where visitors don’t just observe but engage with digital systems, smart infrastructure, and industrial environments. Beijing, for example, is developing themed routes that combine aerospace education, robotics exhibits, and industrial parks into unified visitor experiences.
The trend is also becoming part of China’s global image strategy. High-profile visits by international figures and viral videos of humanoid robots, flying cars, and EV factories have helped amplify interest online. State media and influencers have played a role in turning these moments into spikes in global attention.
As Yuan told Rest of World, the cycle reinforces itself: online curiosity leads to visits, visits become content, and content creates more curiosity. “Each rotation deepens the perception that China is a serious, perhaps leading, technological power,” he said.
Projecting massive future growth
The economic foundation supporting this shift is substantial. In 2025, China recorded over 6.5 billion domestic trips and more than 150 million inbound visits, creating a massive pool of consumers seeking deeper, more interactive travel options.
"The rapid rise of tech tourism is the result of China's consumption upgrading, industrial transformation and the wider adoption of advanced technologies," said Deng Aimin, a culture and tourism expert at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, per People's Daily Online. "In the past, sightseeing alone was enough for many travelers. Now people are looking for deeper and more interactive experiences."
According to reports cited by People's Daily Online, industrial tourism currently makes up less than 5% of China's total tourism output, compared to 10 to 15% globally. The sector is projected to expand at an average annual rate of 18% over the coming years, with the total market size expected to surpass 300 billion yuan ($44 billion) by 2029 or 2030.
For a closer look at how China’s robotics ambitions are reshaping competition across Asia, read our coverage of how Chinese humanoid robots are intensifying Japan’s long-running robotics race.