China is one of those destinations that I have marked on my vacation wish list: I hope to see the red pandas, the Xi’an Warriors and the Great Wall. Yes, I have been there twice already, but they were work trips where although I could see the spectacular night skyline of Shanghai, the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong or temples in Shenzhen, where I was most was in brand headquarters and their factories.
Be careful, I don’t regret anything: they were wonderful trips where I discovered that China technologically lives in the future. Because China has an immense historical legacy, but a future and an industrial fabric that, quite simply, leaves you speechless. Highly recommended. Well, what for me were work trips have now become a tourist destination. And be careful, it is not a new phenomenon: technology has always aroused curiosity, but until now the most techie people had their mecca in Silicon Valley.
Shenzhen, resort city. The GloPen tour operator offers 8-day tour packages through Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu to see first-hand companies, technologies and people in the world of AI and autonomous driving. Among the organizers is BYD. Tech Buzz China has “crash dives” for investors, executives and founders with direct access to AI labs, electric vehicle factories and robotics startups. China Study Tour has of seven-day programs that combine AI, electric vehicles, robotics, healthcare and sustainability for corporate and academic groups, with access to BYD, Huawei or DJI.
The price range starts at $3,000 for travel not included, but if you are looking for something more affordable, on Viator there are boring options and one that is amazing: “Shenzhen Tech Tour: Explore the Future”a bilingual tour from 80 euros that includes a drone food delivery demonstration, a robotaxi ride, and visits to stores selling AI glasses.
Why is it important. Because this sociological phenomenon shows something: the perception of who leads global technology is shifting from the United States to China. For a more specialized profile like an investor, the trip makes all the sense in the world: reading a PDF is not the same as being there on the ground and seeing it yourself.
On a larger scale, these trips are helping to shape new economic alliances: giants like India or old Europe are updating their industrial strategies and these trips to see it in situ constitute a great reinforcement. An example: the trips of the president of Spain to China, where he visited the Xiaomi headquarters.
Context. That China is where it is is anything but a coincidence: it has been directing its industrial policy towards robotics, electric vehicles and ICT as priority sectors for years with subsidies, goals and specific commitments, as an example of its ‘Made in China 2025‘. The result has been a brutal boost to the industry, the development and manufacturing of complex high-tech products. What is visited today on tours is the result of that strategy that has been maturing for a decade.
Furthermore, China and the United States are immersed in a technological war with vetoes and tariffs. When standard channels of collaboration and communication are closed, showing up on the spot becomes one of the best ways to not be blinded to what is happening on the other side. And China is making it easy, both through these private and institutional initiatives: in 2025 it opened its doors to almost 50 countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Russia, which can access China without the need for a visa.
In detail. Technological tourism is aligned with China’s interest in getting closer to the world, because the Asian giant is truly unknown to the outside world and obviously these types of tours are a magnificent sales and image showcase, an authentic soft skill that sweeps social networks.
And since a picture is worth a thousand words (which in this case is not even painted), YouTuber iShowSpeed will ride a flying car in Shenzhen or the German Chancellor Merz saw robots doing kung-fu It makes fantastic advertising. Someone sees the technology that is being made in China on social networks, becomes curious and that leads them to book a tour. A virtuous circle.
Yes, but. We continue with the obvious: in a tourist package sponsored by manufacturers you will see only what they want you to see, just like those dream Google officesand they can perfectly be showcases designed to impress that do not have to represent the entire Chinese industry: one thing is the showroom and another is reality.
On a five-day trip to Shenzhen you can see the tip of the industry’s iceberg in cutting-edge factories, but not the working conditions or its environmental policy. Although that is not something exclusive to China: on a visit to Meta in San Francisco or Stellantis in Zaragoza they are not going to tell you that either.
In Xataka | Young tourists from China have begun to visit random places en masse. There is an explanation: Xiaohongshu
Cover | Jose Garcia and Joel Danielson
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