Chinese tourism to Russia soars as travellers pivot from under-fire Japan

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By Ralph Jennings

Published November 26, 2025

As China’s tourists scrap plans to visit Japan en masse amid an ongoing diplomatic feud, many appear to be pivoting to an alternative destination: Russia.

Chinese travel firms have reported a surge in Russia-related flight and hotel bookings in recent weeks compared with the same period last year, with analysts saying the country’s winter scenery made it a natural replacement for Japanese hotspots like the northern island of Hokkaido.

Russia hotel bookings made by Chinese travellers in the two weeks ending on Monday for stays in December were up more than 50 per cent year on year, according to travel marketing and technology firm China Trading Desk.

Some travellers who had booked trips to Hokkaido – famous in China for its ski resorts and hot springs – were switching to Russia due to its similar climate, said Subramania Bhatt, the company’s CEO.

“For travellers who were originally considering Hokkaido for snow, winter landscapes and outdoor activities, it’s relatively easy to substitute with Russia’s winter products – in Moscow or St Petersburg plus the Far East or Arctic regions – because the climate and activity profile are quite similar,” Bhatt said.

Fliggy, a major Chinese travel platform, said flight bookings to Russia over the past two months had nearly doubled compared with the same period last year. Fliggy is owned by Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the South China Morning Post.

“Russia offers a unique combination of natural scenery, cultural charm and affordability, particularly its distinctive winter travel experiences such as aurora hunting and admiring the blue ice of Lake Baikal,” the company told the Post in a statement.

“The current snow season and the anticipated convenience of visa policies are also positive factors further encouraging Chinese tourists to travel to Russia.”

Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo escalated this month after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested her country could deploy its military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing issued a travel warning on November 14 urging Chinese citizens to avoid visiting Japan, citing safety concerns. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists have since cancelled their air ticket bookings to the country, and domestic airlines had cancelled flights on 12 Japan routes as of Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of passengers flying from China to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok between October 1 and November 25 reached 67,000, a 37 per cent increase compared with the whole of October and November last year, Vladivostok International Airport data showed. The city’s weekly flight connections to China have also risen from 35 to 43.

“Vladivostok is interesting by itself as a city with European ambience, Christian culture, military history and with China-friendly infrastructure,” the airport said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent announcement that his country would lift visa requirements for Chinese travellers “in the very near future” – a response to China granting Russians 30-day visa-free access in September – also appears to have helped put Russia on the map as a travel destination.

The volume of Chinese users searching for and viewing Russia-related tourism products in the 48 hours after November 18 – the day Moscow indicated visa-free entries were on the way – tripled compared with the same period during the previous week, China Trading Desk calculated.

“Once you add visa-free entry and the perception that Russia is less politically sensitive than Japan right now, that substitution becomes even easier for agencies to suggest and for travellers to accept,” Bhatt said.

Russia is not the only country benefiting from the drop in Chinese tourism to Japan. Some Chinese travellers are also rebooking for trips to South Korea and countries in Southeast Asia, according to Bhatt.

In Russia, the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists include Moscow, St Petersburg, Murmansk and Minsk, as well as Vladivostok, Fliggy said.

It added that Chinese travellers were “increasingly drawn” to Murmansk for the chance to see the aurora borealis – also known as the northern lights – without having to pay the high prices often seen in Nordic countries.

China-Russia relations remain warm as the two sides step up trade, with Russia often exporting resources that China needs for its factories. Russia has leaned on China for economic support in recent years, especially after Western countries placed sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.