"Foreign tourists are shocked: China's technology is so advanced, Europe is so backward"
From unmanned taxis on the streets to drone food delivery and robot waiters, these "future-oriented" scenes have long become a daily part of life in China. As they frequently appear on overseas social media, they not only attract a large number of overseas audiences, but also encourage them to come to China.
"Tourists are flocking to China to catch a glimpse of cyberpunk future," reported Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on August 29. Now, more and more foreign tourists are traveling to China specifically to experience this technological trend.
Frenchman Marc Guyon, who lives in Hong Kong, decided to travel to Shanghai in early August. His main focus was not the art deco architecture of the city, but the driverless taxis and hotel delivery robots.
"It's amazing, China looks like a futuristic world," said Marc. "It seems that all foreigners have the same reaction, many people share these things online, and I will too."
The South China Morning Post noted that this situation is becoming increasingly common. Driven by social media, a "tech tourism" trend is emerging overseas - tourists fly to China specifically to experience advanced technology and urban landscapes.
In recent years, with China's relaxation of visa exemption policies, the number of foreign tourists has increased rapidly. At the same time, content about Chinese tourism on overseas social media has also seen explosive growth.
On the short video platform TikTok, the number of videos with the #chinatravel tag has exceeded 215,000, and one-third of them were uploaded in the past year. Many popular posts depict China's major cities as sci-fi destinations, highlighting scenes that many overseas audiences find full of "futuristic" elements, such as palm scanning payments, drone food delivery, and driverless taxis.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841773110263811/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.