But aside from being holiday relics, buildings genuinely affect how city residents feel, according to a 2025 study of more than 2,000 respondents. Seventy-five percent said buildings had at least some impact on their wellbeing, and 49% admitted to smiling when they walked past “interesting buildings”.

While the study did not establish a direct correlation between building height and smile size, it was enough to prompt Radical Storage, a global luggage storage network operating in over 500 cities worldwide, to conduct further research and develop an index of the world’s top skylines.

From Shenzhen to New York via Dubai, its new ranking might help travellers decide where to go next, or which skyline to frame next.

The ranking weighs five categories: total skyscrapers over 150 metres (30%), the average height of a city’s ten tallest buildings (25%), nighttime skyline visibility (25%), skyline density (15%) and award-winning skyscrapers (5%). Radical Storage scored the top 100 cities listed by the Skyscraper Center, which ranks urban areas according to their number of buildings over 150 metres, before narrowing the field down to a top ten.

“Together, these weighted factors assess the height, visibility, and design of each skyline to reveal those that offer the most memorable urban experience,” the Radical Storage team explained.

China emerges as the big winner, taking six of the ten spots, with Shenzhen claiming first place.

Bordering Hong Kong, Shenzhen and its 679 buildings over 150 metres have built their reputation on speed. The city’s skyline grew so quickly that the term “Shenzhen speed” was coined in the 1980s during the construction of the Guomao Building, when workers reportedly completed one floor every three days. The former fishing town has since transformed into a global technology hub, and the Ping An Finance Centre now stands at 599 metres.

The other Chinese cities in the top ten are Hong Kong (3^rd), Wuhan (yes, that Wuhan) in 5^th place, Guangzhou (6^th), Shanghai (7^th) and Chongqing (joint 9^th).

Probably not what you would expect, when skylines usually bring to mind cities like Dubai, which lands a healthy second place thanks to its 32 supertall towers, including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building at 829.8 metres. New York takes fourth place, with the most award-winning skyscrapers of any city on the list, 20 in total, headlined by the Empire State Building, star of everything from King Kong to Elf.

Hong Kong’s dense skyline has played a starring role in Godzilla vs. Kong and The Dark Knight, where Batman famously leaps from the Two International Finance Centre. Shanghai’s Bank of China Tower had its own Hollywood moment in Mission: Impossible III, while Tokyo, tied for ninth with Chongqing, has been a backdrop for Godzilla films since the very first one.

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Ultimately, however, a great skyline is not just about how high or densely a city can build, but how it stays in people’s minds and affects those living beneath it day after day. After all, cities that reach the highest into the clouds are not necessarily those topping global happiness rankings, and the true measure of a place probably goes far beyond its towers.

L’article Shenzhen tops ranking of the world’s best skylines in 2026 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

New data from the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2026 Economic Impact Research (EIR) report highlights China as a standout performer in the Asia-Pacific region. The report emphasises the potential impact of China’s policies, innovation, and long-term investment in infrastructure on future tourism.

In 2025, China received 68 million international visitors, marking a 15.5% increase from the previous year and nearly tripling the global growth rate of 5.4%. This was the largest global increase, with 9 million more arrivals than in 2024.

China is setting the pace for global Travel & Tourism growth.

By 2036, China’s Travel & Tourism sector is projected to nearly double in value to US$3.5 trillion, generating 1 in every 5 new Travel & Tourism jobs worldwide.

The momentum is already clear:

68M+…

— WTTC (@WTTC) June 4, 2026

The country has come a long way. After years of strict restrictions and closed borders due to the pandemic, which brought international tourism almost to a standstill, China only fully reopened to foreign travellers in 2023. Since then, it has been catching up fast.

This strong performance is already having a significant impact, with China’s wider tourism and travel (T&T) sector expanding by 9.9% in 2025 to reach $1.8 trillion – more than double the global average growth rate of 4.1%. China is also playing a central role in making the Asia-Pacific region the world’s fastest-growing T&T area, with growth of 8.1%.

This surge would not have been possible without significant government intervention. In recent years, China has invested heavily in infrastructure, including high-speed rail, improved air connections and roads reaching some of the country’s most remote areas. Beijing has also invested heavily in new tourism developments, such as new tourism zones, cultural attractions, and theme parks. The government has also developed new tourism experiences, including cycling routes and hiking trails, to encourage travellers to explore beyond the country’s traditional hotspots.

Additionally, the government has adapted and reformed policies to encourage this growth, viewing tourism as a key pillar of the country’s economic development.

Its efforts are paying off.

Its push goes from visa easing, with up to 30-day visa-free stays and extended transit stays of 10 days, to an enhanced experience in the country, starting at the airport with biometric systems and advanced digital payment platforms, reducing lengthy procedures and possible payment friction.

“These efforts highlight the importance of innovation and digitalisation as core enablers of tourism growth,” the WTTC noted, adding that investment in air connectivity, high-speed rail infrastructure, new tourism zones, cultural attractions and theme parks is strengthening China’s tourism offering and global competitiveness.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC, praised these developments, stating that China’s recovery shows how “targeted policy reforms can translate directly into stronger inbound demand and sustained growth”.

“Continued progress in visa facilitation will be essential to sustaining this momentum. This approach, over time, could position China to become the world’s leading Travel & Tourism economy if they continue with this path,” she added.

According to the WTTC report, China’s performance places the country firmly on track to become the world’s leading travel and tourism economy in the coming years, provided that current trends continue.

China is also expected to reclaim its position as the world’s largest outbound travel market, with spending forecast to surge by 22.5% to almost $280 billion by 2026, surpassing the US.

China is also a major player in the business travel sector, ranking second worldwide after the US with $192 billion in spending.

@WTTC President & CEO Gloria Guevara (@GGuevaraM) was honoured to deliver the opening remarks at the WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026 alongside H.E. Gao Zheng, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, and H.E. Yin Yong, Mayor of… pic.twitter.com/ENTfzwTjLx

— WTTC (@WTTC) June 3, 2026

The sector is expected to almost double by 2036, with China forecast to generate one in five new tourism jobs worldwide. In 2025, T&T supported 84.6 million jobs in the country, a figure expected to exceed 103 million within ten years.

L’article China on track to become world’s leading travel and tourism economy est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Titled “Chinese and European Youth: Moving Forward Together”, the contest invites participants aged 15 to 35 from across the European Union to submit original cartoons or short videos exploring their experiences of China, Chinese culture, travel, or the relationship between China and Europe.

The initiative is organised by the Chinese Mission to the EU with artistic support from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts (KoMASK). Organisers say the competition seeks to encourage young people to share stories, ideas and reflections through art and digital media while highlighting friendship and people-to-people exchanges between China and Europe.

Travel, culture and China-Europe relations at the heart of the competition

Participants are invited to create works inspired by themes such as “Experiencing Chinese Style”, “Visa-Free Travel to China” and “Youth Talking about China and Europe”.

Submissions may focus on Chinese culture, daily life, tourism experiences, study programmes, contemporary development, or broader reflections on the future of China-Europe relations.

According to the organisers, the competition aims to provide young Europeans with a platform to showcase their creativity while sharing personal perspectives on China and cross-cultural exchanges.

Selected works will be featured at major events organised by the Chinese Mission to the EU and may also be promoted through professional art institutions, media outlets and digital platforms.

Cartoons and short videos accepted

The contest is divided into two categories: cartoons and short videos.

Cartoon submissions may be hand-drawn or digitally created, with no restrictions on artistic style or technique. Both single-panel and multi-panel works are eligible.

For the video category, participants can submit vlogs, short films, micro-documentaries, music videos or other creative formats. Videos must not exceed five minutes in length and should be submitted in MP4 or MOV format.

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All entries must be original works and cannot have been previously submitted to other competitions or used for commercial purposes.

The organisers have also specified that works generated using artificial intelligence, including AI-assisted creations, are not eligible.

Trip to China among prizes on offer

The competition offers a range of prizes, including four first prizes, each of which includes a trip to China organised by the Chinese Mission to the EU.

If a winner is unable to take part in the visit, the prize will be replaced by a return flight ticket between Belgium and China.

Additional prizes include smartphones, smartwatches and a laptop computer for the winner of the Most Popular Online Entry Award.

All participants will receive a certificate of merit issued by the Chinese Mission to the EU and may be given priority consideration for future exchange programmes and visits to China organised by the Mission.

How to participate

The competition is open now and will accept submissions until 1 August 2026.

Participants must submit their entries by email to youthchinaeu@gmail.com. The subject line should follow the format: Chinese and European Youth: Moving Forward Together_Name of the Author_Title of the Work.

Each submission must be accompanied by a short description in Chinese, English or French, including the participant’s category (Amateur or Professional), name, title of the work, date and place of creation, a brief description of no more than 200 words, and any personal Instagram or TikTok accounts.

NOTICE
The cartoon and short video creative contest titled “Chinese and European Youth：Moving Forward Together,” under the host of the Chinese Mission to the EU and the artistic support from the Royal Society for Encouragement of the Fine Arts (KoMASK), is now in full swing. We… pic.twitter.com/XjIf06lKiT

— Mission of China to the EU (@ChinaEUMission) June 5, 2026

Organisers also encourage participants to share their entries on Instagram or TikTok using the hashtag #YouthChinaEU and to follow the official account of the Chinese Mission to the EU, @missionchinaeu.

The winners are expected to be announced in September 2026 following an evaluation by a panel of experts and professionals. Judging will take into account both artistic quality and online engagement, including audience interaction on social media.

Strengthening people-to-people exchanges

The launch comes at a time when China continues to promote cultural, educational and tourism exchanges with Europe, including through expanded visa facilitation measures and youth exchange programmes designed to encourage greater people-to-people connectivity between the two regions.

By encouraging young Europeans to share their experiences, perceptions and creative visions of China, the organisers hope to foster a deeper understanding between the two sides and highlight the role of youth in shaping the future of China-Europe relations.

L’article Young Europeans invited to win a trip to China through new creative contest est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Under the new system, applications for refunds on purchases below a value of CN¥10,000 (around €1,265) will no longer be subject to mandatory customs verification, instead undergoing random checks, thus speeding up the departure procedure.

The digitalisation of the system will be rolled out from 1 July 2026. This means customs agents and refund handlers will process all applications and invoices electronically. Instant refunds can be made directly at participating stores if travellers present a passport and a credit card for pre-authorisation. Temporary holds on credit cards will be released as long as consumers complete customs within 28 days from the date of purchase upon leaving mainland China.

The new regime also allows purchasers to make claims in a different location from the place where they bought the goods, allowing travellers to buy items in one city and apply for refunds in another destination. International exhibition centres will also be getting their own tax refund service areas, including the China International Import Expo, the China Import and Export Fair and the China International Consumer Products Expo, to incentivise overseas buyers attending the events.

The “Shopping in China” moves are part of a Chinese drive to boost visitor spending. Officials said in a statement that the changes would make purchases and tax refunds “more convenient, faster and easier” for international consumers.

With up to 13% VAT refundable, the refund scheme is worth applying for as Chinese goods and brands increasingly attract international buyers. Electronics, cultural items, fragrances, and leather products all qualify for refunds, provided the retailer is officially registered under the tax scheme. There are up to 14,000 participating points across the country, according to official numbers, four times as many as there were in 2024. This is only set to grow further as designated international consumption hubs and pilot global retail zones are encouraged to expand.

Overall, the push on international consumer spending is a strategy that is paying off. In 2025, government figures showed that 270,000 overseas visitors applied for tax refunds, quadrupling year-on-year. Meanwhile, inbound consumption went up by 40% and travel service exports rose 50% in 2025. China is also seeking to boost connectivity, making it easier for additional international passengers to fly to China, the official statement said.

L’article China eases tax refund rules for foreign travellers to boost spending est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The event brought together diplomats and cultural representatives to highlight Zhejiang’s landscapes, heritage, innovation, and contemporary culture. Through live demonstrations and performances, audiences in Brussels were introduced to a destination where traditions remain actively practised.

As part of this broader focus on making the region more accessible for future visitors, H.E. CAI Run, Ambassador of China to the EU, said: “By expanding visa-free access to 50 countries, including Belgium and many European partners, China is showing its openness to the world. We want to further deepen our relationship with the European Union through closer cooperation and shared development. Zhejiang Province serves as an important bridge for China–EU exchanges and cooperation, and we welcome European friends to visit and experience a multidimensional China.”

Liangzhu heritage as a window into ancient civilisation 

One of the central themes of the exhibition was Liangzhu Ancient City, a UNESCO World Heritage site located near Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province. The archaeological site is more than 5,000 years old and is considered one of the earliest examples of Chinese civilisation. Through videos and visual installations, visitors in Brussels were introduced to Liangzhu’s historical importance and its role in shaping early Chinese society. For travellers visiting Zhejiang, Liangzhu Archaeological Site Park offers museums, excavated ruins, and cultural exhibitions that provide insight into the origins of the region’s history. 

The opening ceremony featured fashion and performance to reinterpret this heritage for modern audiences. Models appeared wearing outfits inspired by Liangzhu culture, combining ancient symbols with contemporary design. The performance was created to show how historical references continue to influence modern creative industries in Zhejiang. This connection between heritage and modern culture can also be seen across the province itself, particularly in Hangzhou, where traditional architecture, design studios, museums, and contemporary cultural spaces exist side by side. 

Master artisans bring Zhejiang’s craftsmanship to Brussels 

Zhejiang is known for its strong craftsmanship traditions, which remain an active part of daily cultural life today. To bring these traditions closer to audiences in Belgium, several artisans travelled from China to demonstrate their work live during the exhibition. Their presence allowed visitors to look beyond the finished objects and gain a clearer understanding of the techniques, materials, and time involved in each craft. 

Among the artisans invited to Brussels was Li Wei, fourth-generation inheritor of Pingyang lacquerware and founder of the Pingyang Lacquerware Art Museum. Li Wei demonstrated how multiple layers of lacquer are carefully applied and polished by hand to create decorative objects with deep colours and reflective surfaces. The craft has been practised in Zhejiang for generations and remains closely linked to the province’s artistic heritage. 

Another artisan featured during the exhibition was Jin Jiahong, recognised as a Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. She presented Hangzhou embroidery, a textile tradition dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty. The embroidery style is known for its delicate stitching techniques, rich colour combinations, and the use of gold and silver threads, including the well-known “one golden thread” method. 

Traditional woodblock printing was represented by Wei Lizhong, a recognised inheritor of the craft. During the live demonstration, he carved designs into wooden blocks before manually printing them onto paper in front of visitors. Guests could closely follow each stage of the process and, in some cases, even participate themselves. 

These demonstrations also reflected experiences that travellers can find in Zhejiang itself. Across the province, local workshops, museums, and cultural heritage centres allow visitors to discover these traditional crafts more closely. In some places, travellers can observe artisans at work, while other workshops offer short introductory sessions where visitors can try parts of the process themselves. 

Heritage that meets innovation 

The exhibition highlighted Zhejiang’s connection between tradition and technology. During one of the performances, a musician played the suona, a traditional Chinese wind instrument known for its powerful sound. In a surprising contrast, a humanoid robot appeared on stage and danced alongside the live music performance, symbolising how Zhejiang combines historical culture with innovation and technological development. 

Culinary exchange between Zhejiang and Belgium 

Zhejiang is known for its refined food culture, where presentation and craftsmanship play an important role in traditional cuisine. Delicate pastries, detailed preparation techniques, and regional tea culture are all part of the culinary experience visitors can discover across the province. During the exhibition in Brussels, this tradition was presented through a live demonstration in which floral forms were carefully shaped from mung bean cake, a traditional Chinese pastry. Alongside this, Belgian chocolates were prepared for guests, creating a cultural exchange between Chinese and Belgian artisanal food traditions. 

The exhibition underscored Zhejiang’s role as a bridge between tradition and innovation, while reinforcing cultural exchange and cooperation between China and the European Union. It also presented Zhejiang as a dynamic travel destination where culture, heritage, and innovation come together to shape the visitor experience. 

L’article China showcases Zhejiang tourism and culture in Brussels est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

According to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., the national railway encountered a huge success during the 2026 May Day holiday. The number of railway passenger trips exceeded 100 million, reaching 117 million as of Monday, 4 May 2026.

The holiday weekend started strong in terms of train travel, with 24.8 million passengers registered on 1 May. That number immediately meant ‌a new single-day record according to the China State Railway Group. 2,070 additional trains were scheduled to meet demand.

@cgtneurope Traveling across China during the national holiday could be crazy. From Shanghai to Beijing, tourist hotspots were packed with people on May 1, the first day of China’s Labor Day holiday, as millions are swarming into those cities. On Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, users have been sharing videos from the Bund in Shanghai, Forbidden City in Beijing and Hongyadong in Chongqing. All are popular tourist destinations – and now all are full of happy crowds. #ChinaMoments #MayDay #holiday #Chinatravel #China #Forbiddencity #thebund #Shanghai #chongqing ♬ original sound – CGTN Europe

Although official numbers have not yet been shared, the state railway expected another 23 million passengers to travel on Tuesday, 5 May, with 2,225 extra train services planned to navigate on the final day of the May Day holiday. The railway’s official booking platform shows that Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen were among the most popular options.

Aside from the high passenger volume, the railway also noted that the system has operated safely and smoothly, partly due to the extra services that had been added over the weekend.

The railway was not the only means of transportation to score well during the May Day holiday in China. Overall, 1.52 billion cross-regional trips were made during the weekend, with many people choosing to travel by car. Waterway and air traffic were also projected to increase, although official data have not yet been communicated at the time of writing.

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May Day holiday

Traditionally, the May Day holiday is one of China’s most popular public holiday periods of the year. According to the state-run China Global Television Network, in 2026, the Chinese moved away from some of the most crowded landmarks and went looking for “meaningful, hands-on cultural encounters.”

“This year’s Government Work Report called for promoting high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry and expanding integrated formats spanning culture, tourism, sports and commerce.  The policy push is now being echoed across the country, with dozens of provinces and major cities rolling out new models and consumption scenarios at scale, laying a solid foundation for growth in China’s cultural and tourism market. As consumption shifts from sightseeing to immersive experiences, travellers are staying longer and spending more per capita, underscoring a broader transformation in China’s tourism consumption model,” CGTN writes.

Intangible cultural heritage experiences in Suzhou, indoor ice-climbing in Chengdu, paper making in Jingxian County, the Jiangsu Football City League, and immersive activities such as fruit picking and hiking were among the strongest climbers in terms of popularity. 

L’article China registers over 100 million railway passenger trips during May Day holiday est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The vessel, in development at the China Ship Scientific Research Centre in Wuxi, will be able to carry four passengers per trip. Tickets for adventures into the deep, where few humans have ever been, can reach into the thousands of dollars, appealing to a similarly high-end adventure tourism market as space, where short trips beyond fabled boundaries such as the Kármán Line have become a status symbol.

China's three deep-sea manned submersibles — Fendouzhe (Striver), Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior), and Jiaolong — have completed 1,746 dives to date, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday, noting the trio is set to complete 314 dives this year alone. pic.twitter.com/VdQIaTNx1r

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) December 25, 2025

Research centre director, Ye Cong, told China Daily that interest in the new submersible was already running high among destination managers and tour agencies. He described the model as a potentially “valuable asset for cruise lines, high-end tourism operators and oceanographic researchers,” adding that it “will offer discerning travellers an unforgettable experience in ocean exploration.”

Nonetheless, safety will be a key concern, especially following the well-publicised, deadly fate that met the Titan tourist submersible in 2023 off the coast of Canada on an expedition to see the wreck of the Titanic. Vessels intended to reach the so-called marine “Midnight Zone,” between 1,000 and 4,000 metres deep, need to be able to protect passengers from extremely low temperatures and resist 100 times more atmospheric pressure than at the sea’s surface. The integrity of windows, a vital component allowing tourists and scientists alike to take in their surroundings, is particularly problematic.

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But, during his China Daily interview, Ye Cong reported that the Chinese team have already solved that issue through the development of a transparent hull that offers a 360-degree vista. “After more than four years of research, engineers have finalized the structural design,” he said, adding that sea trials and further iterations will follow.

The submersible is set to become a competitor to established brands like Florida’s Triton and the Netherlands’ U-Boat Worx, but China is not a newbie to the sector. Confidence in the project stems from previous national form in the shape of dozens of submersibles for leisure use—albeit at shallower depths of around 20 metres in reservoirs, lakes and coastal waters. And those are as nothing to the country’s three manned deep-sea submersibles, such as record-breakers Jiaolong and Deep Sea Warrior, that carried out over 300 dives worldwide in 2025, making up over half of global deep-sea operations.

L’article First Chinese deep sea tourist submersible could be operational before 2030 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 596 million domestic trips were made during the nine-day Spring Festival break, which ended on Monday. Total tourism spending reached 803.5 billion yuan, approximately $117 billion, marking the highest figures ever recorded for the holiday period.

Both trips and revenue rose by almost 19% compared with last year’s eight-day break, after authorities extended the public holiday in a bid to stimulate spending on travel, food, and entertainment.

@julia_chinacompass For who is planning to travel to China during the upcoming weeks…The travel rush named "Chunyun" might be the biggest migration on earth you have ever met… More than 9.5 billion ppl trips in 40 days from 2nd Feb until 12th March this year…#chinatravel #chinesenewyear #lifeinchina #traveltips #chinanews ♬ 刘德华、王宝强、刘昊然唱跳《恭喜发财2020》 – 刘德华、王宝强、刘昊然

Extended break drives record movement

Compared with 2025, travellers made 95 million more trips, while tourism revenue increased by 126.5 billion yuan year-on-year.

However, spending per trip stood at 1,348 yuan, slightly below last year’s 1,351 yuan, a marginal dip of 0.2%. The figures suggest that while more people travelled, consumers remained cautious in their individual spending.

The strong performance forms part of what is already a record-setting Spring Festival season. As reported by Travel Tomorrow, China’s 40-day New Year travel rush, which began on 2 February, is forecast to generate 9.5 billion journeys, marking the largest annual human migration in the world. The 2026 season, welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse, is expected to see a 5.32% increase in overall traveller numbers year-on-year.

From iconic landmarks to rural traditions

Destinations across the country reported surging visitor numbers.

Major scenic sites such as the Great Wall in Beijing and the Danxia landforms in Guangdong were packed with tourists. Smaller and more remote villages in Fujian also saw an influx of visitors drawn by traditional folk activities such as “you shen”, a vibrant parade honouring local deities.

In Sichuan province, the Jiuzhaigou scenic area received 182,700 visitors through 23 February, an increase of 17.7% compared with last year’s holiday. Zhangjiajie, the dramatic mountain park in central China, reported a 10.27% year-on-year rise in visitor numbers during the first five days of the break.

Major cities likewise posted solid results. Shanghai welcomed 21.67 million visitors over the holiday, up 8.36%, while tourism-related spending rose 20.9% to 25.6 billion yuan. Beijing recorded 19.84 million visitors and a total tourism revenue of 33.14 billion yuan.

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Travel platforms noted that lower-tier cities and county-level destinations benefited from travellers seeking a more traditional “New Year flavour”. LY.COM reported that hotel bookings in parts of Guangdong, including Shantou, rose by more than 80% compared with a year earlier.

The intense demand was evident for individuals such as Liu Jian, a 32-year-old Beijing resident, who struggled to secure tickets for a molten-iron fireworks display in Tangshan, a two-hour journey from the capital.

“The ticket is 98 yuan, way more than the usual 38, but they’ve got tons of Spring Festival-only shows, so it’s popular. The tickets are gone the second they go on sale, and I just can’t get one,” she said.

@themotyy happy cny y’all!!! #chongqing #china ♬ original sound – user23079069307

Catering thrives while box office falters

The tourism boom was mirrored in the catering sector. Sales revenue at key catering businesses monitored by the Ministry of Commerce increased by 5.2% compared with last year’s holiday.

Hotpot chain Haidilao said it served more than seven million customers nationwide in the first five days of the break, with traffic on Lunar New Year’s Eve and the first day of the new year rising by more than 10% year-on-year.

Lin Yu Fried Chicken reported more than 3.7 million store visits during the holiday period, boosted by people returning to their hometowns. One outlet located in a scenic area of Rizhao in Shandong province recorded order volumes nearly seven times higher than on regular days.

In contrast, the box office saw a significant slump. Spring Festival cinema takings totalled 5.75 billion yuan, down 39.5% year-on-year, while total admissions fell 35.8% to 120 million, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. Analysts attributed the decline to weaker word of mouth surrounding new film releases.

@meetchinatour Happy Chinese New Year Shantou Guangdong #chinesenewyear #meetchina #chinatravel #chinatrip #exploretheworld ♬ …? – daniel.mp3 & Zamaro

A positive signal for 2026

The record-breaking holiday performance will be welcomed by Chinese authorities, who have extended the break specifically to encourage domestic consumption amid ongoing economic caution.

While spending per trip suggests households remain prudent, the overall scale of travel and total revenue underscores the continued strength of domestic tourism as a pillar of China’s economic strategy.

With the wider 9.5 billion-journey Spring Festival travel season still underway, the Year of the Fire Horse has begun with powerful momentum for the country’s tourism sector.

L’article China’s longest Lunar New Year holiday fuels record 803.5 billion yuan tourism surge est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

At the end of 2024, Chinese company DeepSeek launched its much-talked-about V3 AI model, followed by its R1 model at the start of 2025. As tech news site The Information believes the next-generation V4 model will soon hit the market, rival companies have launched their new developments en masse.

Some of the most important launches include those of Alibaba, ByteDance, and Zhipu. China is generally considered to be the most important competitor to the U.S. concerning AI models, as DeepSeek even became the top-rated free application available on Apple’s App Store in the U.S. after V3 hit the market, overtaking ChatGPT.

Qwen Intelligence Files: All-in-One Vision. Alibaba's Qwen-3.5 Plus is here! With native multimodality, it reads, hears, and sees all at once. Unified intelligence for any case.
Coding plan now just $5/mo.
:https://t.co/XDafsi6Bhx#AlibabaCloud #Qwen #Qwen35Plus… pic.twitter.com/gpIdB48ieA

— Alibaba Cloud (@alibaba_cloud) February 19, 2026

Alibaba: Qwen 3.5

Qwen 3.5 hit the market on 16 February 2026, and according to the e-commerce company, it can understand text, images, and videos across 200 languages. Moreover, it should be able to deploy AI agents – indecent decision-making and task-executing systems – five times faster than its competitors, while being 60% cheaper than Qwen 2.5.

“It demonstrates outstanding results across a full range of benchmark evaluations, including reasoning, coding, agent capabilities, and multimodal understanding, empowering developers and enterprises to achieve significantly greater productivity”, the company said in a press release.

Qwen 3.5 is available both in an open-weight and a hosted version.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is here: The first open-weight model in the Qwen3.5 series.

Native multimodal. Trained for real-world agents.
Powered by hybrid linear attention + sparse MoE and large-scale RL environment scaling.
8.6x–19.0x decoding throughput vs Qwen3-Max
201… pic.twitter.com/Pq0qIk54MB

— Qwen (@Alibaba_Qwen) February 16, 2026

ByteDance: Doubao 2.0 and SeeDance 2.0

ByteDance, the company behind social media platform TikTok, did not release one but two new AI models. Doubao 2.0 marks the second version of its chatbot and should be able to perform similarly to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

Aside from that, ByteDance also released the second version of its image-to-video and text-to-video app, SeeDance 2.0. Users can easily create immersive audio and video. However, the American Motion Picture Association already released a statement criticising the AI model.

“In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorised use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale. By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity”, the association said. ByteDance told the BBC it would be strengthening the current safeguards to protect intellectual copyright.

Zhipu: GLM-5

Zhipu’s open-source GLM-5 model is said to show better coding capabilities and an increased ability to perform long-running agent tasks compared to its predecessor. GLM-5 is engineered for agentic intelligence, advanced multi-step reasoning, and frontier-level performance across coding, creative writing, and complex problem-solving, according to the company.

When Zhipu went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange in January 2026, it raised HKD 4.35 billion (€465 million), which will be put into the further development of GLM-5. Due to its popularity and an insufficient number of chip clusters, however, some GLM-5 users have been experiencing some delays.

Introducing GLM-5: From Vibe Coding to Agentic Engineering

GLM-5 is built for complex systems engineering and long-horizon agentic tasks. Compared to GLM-4.5, it scales from 355B params (32B active) to 744B (40B active), with pre-training data growing from 23T to 28.5T tokens.… pic.twitter.com/uGYQUjIbbs

— Z.ai (@Zai_org) February 11, 2026

Other Chinese companies to have launched their AI models in the days before the Chinese New Year are MiniMax, NetEase Youdao,  Tencent, Dexmal, and iFlytek.

L’article Chinese companies introduce new AI models ahead of Lunar New Year 2026 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

A major festival period celebrated in many Asian countries, such as China, Korea, and Vietnam, the Spring Festival or Chūnjié, heralds the beginning of a new lunisolar calendar year and is marked by visits to family and friends, fireworks, food, parades, and parties. This year’s New Year brings in the Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese zodiac, thought to be a time of dynamic energy, independence, and ambition—characteristics Chinese authorities will want to see feeding into the economy.

@amazing_xiangyang This is the Chinese New Year, and this is how we celebrate it in China.这里是中国，这是中国人庆祝中国年的方式。#becomingchinese #Xiangyang #EchoesOfSpring #BeautifulCNY #YearOfHorse #SpringFestivalGifts #ChineseLunarNewYear #CHINESENEWYEAR2026 #ColorfulCNY #chinesenewyear2026 ♬ 原聲 – Amazing china xiangyang

In the first week of the holiday to 10 February, China’s railways handled 1.01 billion passengers, surpassing predictions. Last year, the railways laid on four percent, or half a million, extra seat places to accommodate the demand.

Also included in the figures for the first time are road trips on major expressways, where over eight billion trips are expected. Meanwhile, airports handled 16.32 million to 8 February, out of an anticipated 95 million flights for the whole period.

Inbound international air travel to China in the two weeks to 10 February 2026 “surged by more than 400 percent year-on-year,” according to China Daily. Outbound international travel is also up this year, according to tour operators, who say the one-day extension that takes the holiday up to nine days is increasing bookings, especially to Thailand, Russia, and Australia, though demand for Japan is reportedly down. Domestic destinations proving popular include the southern island province of Hainan and the northeast’s Changbai Mountain resorts.

@lucky_in_guangzhou Don't miss the Guangzhou Lantern Show Yuexiu Park Jan 31- Mar 8 #guangzhoutravel #guangzhou #chinesenewyear #yuexiupark #lanternfestival ♬ original sound – lucky_in_guangzhou

Although the Asian markets have been described by France24 as “sluggish” going into the holiday period, Chinese economists are hoping for a surge in domestic consumption as people spend their holiday hongbao, a gift of money often presented in a red envelope and representing good fortune and blessings.

To boost that pocket money further, the government too has distributed 360m yuan ($52m) in consumer vouchers for February in a bid to drive up spending in a nation where a culture of saving means Chinese households set aside approximately a third of their income.

L’article China’s New Year travel rush begins with record 9.5 billion journeys forecast est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.