From drones to robots: tourists flock to China to glimpse a ‘cyberpunk’ future

When Marc Guyon, a French national based in Hong Kong, decided to visit Shanghai in early August, the main attraction was not the city’s art deco architecture, but its driverless taxis and hotel delivery robots.

“It’s super impressive – China looks futuristic,” he said. “It seems like all expats have the same reaction. Many of them share content online, and so do I.”

This kind of reaction is becoming increasingly common as China experiences a wave of “tech tourism” – a social media-driven trend where visitors fly into the country specifically to seek out its advanced technology and urban landscapes.

That has dovetailed with a parallel explosion in social media posts about travelling in China. On TikTok, the number of videos tagged “#chinatravel” has climbed to more than 215,000, with nearly three-quarters of them uploaded within the past year.

Many of the most viral posts paint China’s biggest cities as “science-fiction” destinations, highlighting scenes that feel futuristic to many overseas viewers: palm payment systems, drones delivering takeout, driverless taxis zooming through the streets.

Chongqing – a mountainous city of more than 30 million people in southwest China – has become particularly famous as China’s “cyberpunk capital”, with Instagram Reels and YouTube videos marvelling at its spectacular urban landscape, such as its overground metro line that passes directly through a skyscraper.

Some of this content is sponsored by the Chinese authorities, but it is genuinely popular – and it already appears to be impacting the travel industry. Nora Qu Ou, a brand manager at the online travel agency China Highlights, said demand for “tech tourism” had grown sharply since the pandemic.