Industry News

WUHAN/GUANGZHOU, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Looking down through the transparent floor of a suspended monorail gliding above Wuhan, Chen Zhi raised his phone to capture a landscape of green corridors and sprawling technology parks below.

"This is my third trip to Wuhan, but this time feels completely different," said Chen, who traveled from the eastern city of Nanjing during China's five-day May Day holiday.

During previous visits to the capital of central China's Hubei Province, Chen toured traditional attractions such as Yellow Crane Tower and East Lake. This time, however, he chose to experience the city aboard the Optics Valley Photon -- China's first operational suspended monorail line.

"Seeing the city from above on the suspended train feels like stepping into the future," he said. "The whole experience is incredibly high-tech."

Chen is part of a growing wave of travelers fueling the rise of "tech tourism" across China, as holidaymakers increasingly swap conventional sightseeing for immersive experiences centered on robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), smart manufacturing and futuristic urban infrastructure.

Stretching 10.5 km through Wuhan's East Lake High-tech Development Zone, also known as the Optics Valley of China, the suspended rail has become one of the city's newest tourist draws since entering service in 2023.

"It is like a necklace linking science museums, industrial sites and ecological attractions across Optics Valley," said Zhou Xinlin, a staff member with Wuhan Optics Valley Tourism Development Investment Co., Ltd. "With a day pass, visitors can hop on and off freely and explore the region's innovation hubs in one trip."

Zhou said the rail line has helped connect previously scattered technology and tourism resources, making the experience more convenient and immersive for visitors.

Since the beginning of this year, Optics Valley has launched several themed tourism routes built around the suspended rail, including tours focused on "super factories," AI and low-altitude aviation technologies. The routes feature smart manufacturing, laser technology and humanoid robots among their highlights.

On the first day of the holiday alone, tech-tourism sites and suspended rail attractions in Optics Valley registered more than 13,000 visits, up 5 percent year on year.

The trend extends far beyond Optics Valley. In south China's Guangzhou, the newly opened Haixinsha Omni-Space Intelligent Experience Center has emerged as a popular destination for holiday travelers and student groups seeking hands-on technology experiences.

During the May Day holiday, the center attracted more than 10,000 visits, about 220 percent higher than on normal days.

Among the visitors was 14-year-old Zhang Sinuo from the nearby city of Huizhou, who toured the center with her parents while traveling in Guangzhou.

"I'm very interested in technology and hope to work in the tech industry in the future," Zhang said. "When my parents and I travel, we usually go to museums and science centers. But most museums focus on astronomy or biology. Here, I can see different kinds of robots and aircraft."

Across China, factories, laboratories and research centers once closed to the public are being transformed into tourist destinations as local governments and companies look to combine industrial innovation with tourism consumption.

At technology company Xiaomi's smart appliance factory in Wuhan, robots moved rapidly across assembly lines, handling grabbing, assembling and testing tasks with barely a human worker in sight. Every few seconds, a completed air conditioner rolled off the production line.

"I had only seen smart factories online before," said Zhang Xinyu, a visitor. "Seeing it in person is shocking. It almost feels like magic."

A Xiaomi executive said the tours are designed to show how product quality is ensured at the source, helping consumers better understand the technologies behind modern manufacturing.

Earlier this year, Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng also opened AI-themed manufacturing tours to the public, offering visitors access to its headquarters and smart manufacturing bases in Guangzhou and Zhaoqing to experience AI-powered vehicles, robots and flying-car technologies.

The growing popularity of tech tourism reflects broader changes in China's travel market, as many cities incorporate it into their development plans.

In Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, marine science museums, an undersea tunnel museum and deep-sea exploration bases have been integrated into a themed route that blends ocean technology exploration with industrial heritage experiences.

Meanwhile, the Chinese capital of Beijing is encouraging manufacturers and tourism operators to revitalize factory floors, industrial parks, heritage sites and industrial museums, with a target of drawing 20 million industrial tourism visits a year and generating 3 billion yuan (about 438 million U.S. dollars) in revenue by 2027.

During the May Day holiday, Beijing received 18.83 million tourist visits, with tourism revenue rising 6.6 percent to 22.36 billion yuan. Among more than 2,000 cultural and tourism activities launched during the holiday, popular science research trips emerged as a major highlight.

Industry analysts say the sector still has significant room for growth.

According to a report released by Zero Power Intelligence Group, an industry research company in China, industrial tourism accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of total tourism output globally, while China's share remains below 5 percent. The sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 18 percent over the next five years, with market size projected to exceed 300 billion yuan by 2030.

"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.

"In the past, sightseeing alone was enough for many travelers. Now people are looking for deeper and more interactive experiences," Deng said. "Demand for science education and immersive content has surged, especially among young people and family travelers, and tech tourism meets both learning and leisure needs at the same time."