Five years ago, the foreign tourists in China all wanted the same three photos: the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors and a bowl of noodles. In 2026, a fast-growing share of them are lining up for something else entirely — a robotaxi with no driver, a factory floor where 600 robots weld an electric car every 76 seconds, and a shop where you can buy a humanoid robot and carry it out the door.
China's inbound travel industry has a name for this: "科技游" (kējì yóu) — tech tourism. Shenzhen tour guides who used to lead city walks now run 20–25 tech-focused group days a month, flying in families from Switzerland, the US, Australia and South Africa who want their kids to see a drone deliver lunch. Beijing's Xiaomi EV factory pulls tens of thousands of lottery applications every month for a free tour. And in Shanghai, foreign shoppers film panda-costumed robot dogs and post the clips with a caption that has become a minor genre of its own: "China is living in the future."
This guide explains what tech tourism in China actually is in 2026, which experiences a foreign visitor can realistically book, how much they cost, and how to get past the one thing that trips almost everyone up — the app and ID-verification wall.
Three things happened at once. First, inbound travel surged: China recorded a record 369 million inbound and outbound crossings in the first half of 2026, up 10.8% year on year, and roughly 22.9 million inbound foreign visits, up about 20%. With unilateral visa-free entry for 50 countries and 240-hour visa-free transit for 55 more, the entry friction is lower than at any point in modern China travel.
Second, the technology stopped being a trade-show curiosity and became consumer-visible. Robotaxis carry paying passengers in a dozen cities. Humanoid robots have their own retail stores. Factory tours are open to the public. Third, and crucially, a wave of foreigners discovered that a modern Chinese city is the attraction — the metro, the drone deliveries, the cashier-free stores and the EV charging stations are the sightseeing.
The result: tech experiences are now "sharing the stage with traditional attractions" for international visitors, as Chinese state media itself put it in 2026.
Tech tourism is not an accident. In late May 2026, seven central government departments — including the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology — issued a directive encouraging manufacturers in automotive, robotics and related sectors to open their production lines to public viewing, offer hands-on experiences and run educational study tours.
Automakers were already ahead of the policy. Xiaomi has run public factory tours since March 2024 and opened to individual visitors in November 2024. BYD, NIO, XPeng, Xiaomi and others now treat their plants as tourist sites, complete with canteens, souvenir shops and, in Xiaomi's case, a go-kart track.
Riding a car with no steering wheel input is the single most accessible "wow" experience in China right now — and it is cheap. Baidu's Apollo Go (萝卜快跑) operates fully driverless services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing and Haikou, plus Hong Kong, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Shenzhen, Apollo Go's base fare runs ¥16–20, with a typical 2.3 km trip costing about ¥16–17. Pony.ai (小马智行) operates in Shenzhen and Beijing, and WeRide runs services in Guangzhou — including the RoboBus, an autonomous minibus you can board with an ordinary transit card, no app or account required.
The honest caveat: a self-service booking requires a Chinese mobile number and, in most apps, a Chinese ID for real-name verification. The reliable workarounds are to book through an aggregator inside Alipay or Amap (Gaode Maps), where Apollo Go and Pony.ai now appear alongside ordinary taxis and pay with your linked foreign card, or to have your hotel concierge or a Chinese friend place the order from their verified account. Booking a guided "robotaxi tour" is the third route — you just show up and ride.
Unitree Robotics, China's best-known humanoid-robot maker, opened its first directly-operated store in Beijing's Wangfujing shopping street in April 2026, followed by its Asia-first "embodied intelligence experience store" on Nanjing West Road in Shanghai's Jing'an district in May 2026. Both are in prime shopping districts rather than tech parks, and both are magnets for foreign visitors.
You can watch humanoid robots dance, flip and jump, interact with a panda-costumed robot dog, and buy on the spot. Prices range from just over ¥9,000 for a Go2 robot dog, to ¥39,900 for an R1 humanoid, up to ¥85,000+ for the G1. Staff say foreign visitors often order for delivery abroad. No reservation is needed to browse — just walk in.
The hardest ticket in Chinese tourism is also free. Xiaomi's EV "hyper-factory" in Beijing E-Town (Yizhuang) is a 718,000 m² campus — roughly the area of the Forbidden City — with 600+ robots, a 9,100-tonne die-casting machine that stamps rear underbodies in seconds, and an assembly line that pushes out a finished SU7 every 76 seconds. More than 250,000 people have toured it since 2024.
Booking is via the Xiaomi Auto app (小米汽车) → Discover → Events → "Visit Xiaomi EV Factory" (走进小米汽车工厂). Slots are allocated by lottery, about 20 groups per session, and each winning registrant can bring 1–3 guests. As of 2026 the factory runs weekly English-language tours, and any visitor from any country can book using a passport. The factory also has a canteen, a merchandise store and a 580-metre electric go-kart track (¥69–99).
Shenzhen is the capital of Chinese tech tourism. A typical guided day includes the Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum, the flagship stores of DJI, Huawei and Xiaomi, the world's first "Robot 6S Store" (watch humanoid shows, try robot-made coffee, rent or customise a robot), and Huaqiangbei, the vast electronics market where overseas visitors buy AI glasses, drones and translation devices as "new Chinese souvenirs."
The highlight for many is BYD's global headquarters in Pingshan, where visitors watch a nail-penetration test on the Blade Battery, a −30°C cold-chamber charging demo, and a test-drive of the Yangwang U8 luxury EV. BYD's 50,000 m² Experience Center opened in late 2024. Note that BYD generally hosts organised groups by arrangement rather than walk-ins — book through a tour operator or chamber-of-commerce programme. Independently, you can ride the robotaxi, watch Meituan drone food deliveries over Talent Park, and shop the electronics markets with no booking at all.
China's only coastal spaceport, Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan island, launches rockets regularly — sometimes weekly — and the public can watch. Liftoff against a backdrop of ocean and palm trees, with the ground shaking and a vapour trail across the sky, is a bucket-list experience for space fans and families alike.
| Viewing spot | Distance | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qishui Bay Beach | ~3 km | Free | Best free view; arrive 4–6 hours early |
| Shitou (Stone) Park | Very close | Free | Photographers; slippery reef, be careful |
| Qiaotou Park / Qinglan Bridge | ~15 km | Free | Big LED screen, official zone |
| Tongguling Hill | ~5 km | Free/low | Panoramic bay views |
| Yaoguang Astronomical Platform | ~2 km | ~¥388 | Comfort, seating, commentary, 2,000+ capacity |
| Wenchang Aerospace Viewing Center | ~3.5 km | From ~¥368 | Organised tours, VR and museum add-ons |
How to book: paid viewing tickets are sold via Trip.com / Tongcheng and official mini-programs; popular launch dates sell out a week or more ahead. Launch dates are typically announced days to weeks in advance, so keep the schedule flexible. The Wenchang Space Exploration Center (9:30–17:30) is a separate science museum with a 1:1 Long March 5 model and VR space experiences — worth combining with a launch day.
| Experience | City | Cost | Booking route | Foreigner-friendly? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robotaxi (Apollo Go / Pony.ai) | Wuhan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing | ¥8–20/ride | Alipay / Amap aggregator, hotel concierge, or guided tour | Yes, via aggregator or guide |
| WeRide RoboBus | Guangzhou | Transit fare | Board with transit card / QR — no account | Yes — easiest of all |
| Unitree robot stores | Shanghai, Beijing | Free to browse | Walk in (retail stores) | Yes |
| Xiaomi EV factory | Beijing | Free (lottery) | Xiaomi Auto app; passport accepted | Yes, weekly English tours |
| BYD HQ & Experience Center | Shenzhen | Free (group only) | Tour operator / delegation | Via operator |
| Shenzhen tech tour (DJI, Huaqiangbei, drone delivery) | Shenzhen | ¥375–640 guided | Klook / Viator / GetYourGuide, or DIY | Yes |
| Wenchang rocket launch viewing | Hainan | Free–¥388 | Trip.com / Tongcheng mini-program | Yes |
Tech tourism lives or dies on your setup. Do these before you fly:
Tech tourism is refreshingly cheap. Robotaxi rides cost less than a coffee, the Xiaomi factory tour is free, robot stores are free to browse, and even premium rocket-viewing tickets are under ¥400. The real costs are internal transport and hotels near launch sites, which surge on launch days. The main "cost" is planning: factory lots, rocket dates and English sessions all need advance booking.
Often, yes — through an aggregator inside Alipay or Amap, where Apollo Go and Pony.ai appear as ride options and payment uses your linked foreign card. The standalone apps usually require a Chinese ID for real-name verification, so the aggregator, hotel concierge or a guided tour are the reliable self-service routes. WeRide's RoboBus in Guangzhou needs no account at all.
No. Since 2026 Xiaomi runs weekly English-language guided tours, and any visitor can book with a passport through the Xiaomi Auto app. Tours are allocated by lottery, so apply well in advance.
Yes. Unitree's Shanghai and Beijing stores sell robot dogs from just over ¥9,000 and humanoid robots from ¥39,900, with staff able to arrange delivery abroad. Combine a purchase with the 11% departure tax refund to save more.
Very. Robotics stores, drone-delivery parks, robot restaurants and the Wenchang space centre are all family favourites — the proportion of family travellers on Shenzhen tech tours has been rising steadily. Note that many factories require visitors to be at least 6 (companions) and 18 (registrant).
Launches happen year-round, sometimes weekly. Check the official launch schedule a few days to weeks ahead, book paid viewing tickets early for popular missions, and expect traffic controls — if you are self-driving, you must pre-book your licence plate through the "诚信文昌" (Chengxin Wenchang) mini-program.
Related reading: the Shenzhen travel guide, the payment guide for Alipay/WeChat/cards, the tax refund 2.0 guide, the 240-hour visa-free transit guide, the new high-speed rail lines guide, and Beijing, Guangzhou and China in autumn guides.
Last updated: October 5, 2026. Sources: China Daily on the seven-department factory-tourism directive and the Xiaomi EV factory (August 2026); Global Times on Shenzhen tech tours, Unitree stores and the humanoid-robot market (2026); Baidu Apollo Go, Pony.ai and WeRide operating data and Shenzhen fare schedules (2026); Xinhua on H1 2026 inbound crossings; Trip.com and Tongcheng Wenchang launch-viewing guides (2026). Prices, launch schedules and booking rules change frequently — always reconfirm on official channels before you travel.