From multi-tiered family vacations and evolving gifting behaviour during Qixi Festival, to viral debates on Japanese tourism and international etiquette—China's netizens are reflecting, reshaping, and reacting to what matters. Here's your 9-topic roundup from Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Zhihu.

From healing getaways to cultural clashes abroad, this week’s trending stories across Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Zhihu reveal how Chinese consumers are reshaping travel, lifestyle, and market momentum. Here’s your curated snapshot.

This August, conversations across China’s leading digital platforms reveal a tourism landscape shaped by youth spontaneity, celebrity-driven campaigns, and evolving attitudes towards safety and relaxation. From Weibo’s policy updates to Douyin’s viral road trips, Xiaohongshu’s female-led getaways, Baidu’s humorous “loser tourism,” and Zhihu’s family concerns, the highlights showcase how emotion, economy, and lifestyle are redefining Chinese travel in 2025.

Japan Tourism Surge Amid Tragedy A 55-year-old Chinese tourist was killed on railway tracks in Japan. From Jan–Jun 2025, China ranked 2nd with 4.71M visitors, up 50% YoY, driven by cherry blossom, autumn leaves, and ski seasons.

Reverse Travel for a Relaxed Summer More travellers are choosing “reverse tourism” to avoid crowds, embracing laid-back trips like drifting without paddling, bungee jumping, county-town escapes, and self-drive camping.

From celebrity travel ambassadors to evolving youth travel styles, these viral conversations across China’s top platforms reveal new insights into outbound tourism, consumer confidence, and emotional motivations behind travel. Here's a roundup of this week's hottest travel and lifestyle trends across Weibo, Douyin, and Baidu.

India Reopens Tourist Visas to Chinese Travellers After a five-year hiatus, India resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from 24 July 2025. Search traffic for Delhi skyrocketed tenfold on Chinese travel sites, with Hong Kong–Delhi flights becoming the hottest ticket.

China’s digital platforms reveal new patterns of behaviour across travel, consumption, and generational shifts. Here’s a snapshot of trending topics with direct links to explore each in detail.

China-Malaysia Visa-Free Policy to Start 17 July A new visa waiver allows Chinese and Malaysian travellers up to 30-day stays from 17 July, facilitating short leisure, business and family visits and expected to significantly boost bilateral tourism flows.