China’s factories are drawing a brand new sort of guests — vacationers. Once regarded primarily as manufacturing websites, these services at the moment are turning into in style journey locations, particularly amongst youthful vacationers in search of hands-on studying experiences.
Applications to go to Xiaomi’s manufacturing plant in Beijing exceeded 150,000 between April 2024 and mid-2025. According to information from on-line journey company Ctrip, high-tech and heavy-industry examine excursions have emerged as a fast-rising class throughout this 12 months’s National Day vacation journey season.
Smart factories spark curiosity about science
During the summer time trip, greater than 1,000 college students visited the manufacturing base of CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. in northeast China to find out how the nation’s high-speed trains are constructed.
Standing earlier than the meeting line, they watched the complete course of unfold — from the set up of core elements to the completion of a full bullet prepare. The development precept and exact collaboration mechanisms of high-speed trains grew to become seen and understandable because the awe-inspiring industrial scenes corroborated the summary engineering ideas in textbooks.
Such immersive encounters not solely demystify advanced applied sciences, but in addition sow the seeds of scientific curiosity in younger guests.
Liu Boying, affiliate professor on the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, mentioned industrial tourism is a brand new idea and type of journey that has emerged alongside the growth of tourism merchandise and the combination of commercial aesthetics. It makes profound technological information tangible and accessible in genuine industrial settings.
Industrial tourism serves the aim of science and know-how schooling, enhancing the science literacy of the general public, Liu added.
Interactive experiences redefine manufacturing facility tour
While good factories provide a glimpse into China’s technological may, food-related excursions enchantment to the senses with their playful, hands-on method.
At a dairy manufacturing facility in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province, youngsters can put on lab coats and check out their hand at milking cows, packaging merchandise and monitoring operations. In a beer museum in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province, vacationers can participate in theatrical beer-themed excursions and evening experiences, and style bread made with heritage beer yeast.
Further southwest in Baoshan, Yunnan province, espresso fans can choose berries from bushes, watch roasting and brewing demonstrations, and hint the product’s journey from plant to cup.
Zhang Hui, director of the Modern Tourism Research Institute at Beijing Jiaotong University, mentioned younger individuals have a tendency to decide on personalised tourism services, and industrial tourism that blends native traits with interactive design meets their demand.
Through immersive and interactive tour design, the sector is evolving from easy production-line visits to “co-creative” tourism experiences that join manufacturing with life-style and tradition, in keeping with Zhang.
Breathing new life into outdated industrial websites
China’s former industrial zones — as soon as deserted after manufacturing traces shut down — are discovering new life as cultural landmarks.
In Huaibei, east China’s Anhui province, a decommissioned energy plant has been remodeled into an industrial tourism park, headlined by a mechanical “beast” named “Leilei,” impressed by creatures from the Chinese mythology traditional Shanhaijing, or The Classic of Mountains and Seas. The attraction combines movement, lighting and particular results to interact guests.
In Foshan, south China’s Guangdong province, a uncooked materials workshop and warehouse from a Twentieth-century ceramics manufacturing facility has been was a hub of inventive creation, expertise incubation and pottery exhibition.
By the top of 2024, China had authorised 122 nationwide industrial tourism demonstration bases, 232 nationwide industrial heritage websites, and 10 nationwide industrial heritage tourism bases, with actions akin to manufacturing facility visits, museum exhibitions, and heritage web site excursions.
Zeng Bowei, director of the analysis heart for China’s tourism economic system and coverage at Beijing Union University, mentioned for long-term progress, industrial tourism should transcend the easy mannequin of “production line visit plus product sales,” and focus extra on creating experiences that join emotionally with guests.