My comments

Chinese sailed to North America in 2,250BC (https://radiosinoland.com/2026/05/06/chinese-explorers-surveyed-western-united-states-in-2250bc-no-joke-charlotte-harris-rees-has-the-map-and-written-emperors-records-that-prove-it-ian-hudson-at-1421-foundation-concurs-radio-sinol/), created the Ancient Silk Roads 2,000 years later, and more recently, they have developed the history-changing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) across our Pale Blue Dot. Travel and exploration have been in Chinese bones going back many millennia.

China Tourism Day, celebrated annually on May 19, was officially established by the State Council in 2011. The date was chosen to commemorate the day when Xu Xiake, a renowned Chinese explorer and geologist during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), began his iconic 30-year journey across China. Xu Xiake’s exploration and travel diaries eventually became a cornerstone of ancient Chinese geographic study and tourism culture. His books are still sold in Chinese!

Today, Chinese people help keep international tourism afloat, spending US$254 billion overseas in 2025. Countries like France, Thailand and Japan are heavily dependent on Chinese tourists’ generous pockets. Chinese tourists spend almost twice as much per person in their international travels as Judeo-Yankees.

While Talmud-Tankak Westerners appreciate all that Sino-cash, it is China’s domestic tourism industry that heavily depends on citizens opening their wallets. National tourism expenditures in 2025 hit a staggering ¥6.3 trillion (US$929 billion). Growth is double digit, so it will surpass US$1 trillion soon!

In 2025, China’s inbound tourism market shattered all previous historical records, with 154.5 million inbound tourist arrivals, up 17.1% year-on-year. This figure included 35.17 million foreign tourists and 119.32 million visitors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Total spending by inbound tourists amounted to US$131.1 billion, a remarkable 39.2% year-on-year rise.

China’s travel and tourism sector contributed US$1.8 trillion to global GDP in 2025, with double digit growth in all categories.

Two factors have pushed China’s inbound tourism to new heights.

First, China offers a “no visa” policy for scores of countries around the world, with visits up to 30 days or more. This includes many Western, Asian, Oceania and Latin American citizens (https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147418/n147463/c183390/content.html AND https://www.visainchina.com/chinavisafree.html). Interestingly, France got the ball rolling in 2024, when China made the no-visa offer to its citizens, to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations. The history behind it is really worth reading (https://radiosinoland.com/2026/01/27/president-charles-de-gaulle-made-france-the-first-major-western-power-to-be-mutually-recognized-by-the-peoples-republic-of-china-27-january-1964-a-great-leader-of-vision-and-principles-whom-the-c/). It proved to be so popular and successful, that it was quickly offered to more and more countries.

Second, Alipay and WeChat now let non-Chinese link their bank cards back home to these two Chinese payment platforms. That way, visitors can pay cashless like the locals and it is deducted via their bank cards.

2025 travel spending: Top Five countries

China, USA and Germany all showed increased from 2024, while Britain dropped off, some of which may be due to exchange rate changes with the pound.

• China: Leading global spending with US$254 billion. Chinese travelers boast massive purchasing power overseas, primarily driven by shopping, dining, and premium travel.
• United States: Second globally with US$192 billion. American travelers take longer international trips on average, benefiting from strong currency strength.
• Germany: Third with US$125 billion. Historically a massive European outbound market, German tourists are known for frequent regional and global holidays.
• United Kingdom: Fourth with US$111 billion.
• Other Major Spenders: Including robust regional contributors such as Italy, Japan, and Canada, which routinely rank among the top ten highest outbound spenders. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Jeff J. Brown’s ever-expanding collection of living libraries and catalogues. Many years and 1,000s of hours of writing+podcasting. Take advantage of them. Radio Sinoland 2026 Year of the Fire Horse!

Chinese people are bringing the best medical and pharma services, worldwide, at a much lower cost. I highly recommend going there for medical tourism. Radio Sinoland 251221

[google-translator]