* Although the Spring Festival used to be a low season for inbound travel, this year, more international tourists flew in to experience the country's most important time for family reunions.

* Daily inbound and outbound passenger flows during the Spring Festival holiday are expected to exceed 2.05 million, up 14.1 percent year on year. Flight bookings by foreigners for the holiday soared over 400 percent from the previous year.

* The number of overseas travelers claiming tax refunds jumped 305 percent year on year in 2025, while sales and the tax refund amount rose 95.9 percent and 95.8 percent, respectively. 

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- For the first time in over 10 years living in north China's Tianjin Municipality, Hungarian businessman Tihanyi Istvan played the role of local host this Spring Festival to three fellow countrymen who had just arrived in China. Rather than taking them to the city's landmarks, he brought them straight to a festively decorated local food market.

Amid the bustling crowds, his friends got an authentic taste of Chinese New Year shopping traditions. "I took them to eat tangduner (sugar-coated hawthorns) and buy dried fruits and sunflower seeds. The stall owner said, 'Here, try some,' and they asked, 'Can we taste it here?' I said, 'Of course! How will you know if it's good if you don't try it?'" Tihanyi recalled.

Tihanyi later introduced his friends to paper-cutting, New Year picture rubbing, and dumpling-making. "Leading them into Chinese culture is the best welcome," he said, adding that he feels he is already "becoming Chinese."

Stories like this are now unfolding across China. Although the Spring Festival used to be a low season for inbound travel, this year, more international tourists flew in to experience the country's most important time for family reunions.

The National Immigration Administration predicts that daily inbound and outbound passenger flows during the Spring Festival holiday, which started on Feb. 15, will exceed 2.05 million, up 14.1 percent year on year. Flight bookings by foreigners for the holiday soared over 400 percent from the previous year, according to data from online travel service provider Fliggy on Jan. 30.

More importantly, they are no longer content with sightseeing. They crave what many describe as an immersive "very Chinese time." This desire for deeper engagement is translating into real consumption.

According to the latest data from the State Taxation Administration, the number of overseas travelers claiming tax refunds jumped 305 percent year on year in 2025, while sales and the tax refund amount rose 95.9 percent and 95.8 percent, respectively. This year's surge in international visitors for the holiday is set to inject strong vitality into China's inbound consumption market.

CHINA EXCLUSIVE

During the ongoing Spring Festival holiday, a quiet shift is taking place in the shopping carts of inbound travelers. Alongside international luxury brands, a growing number of products are "only available in China." It's not just a consumption upgrade, but also a form of cultural identity, from "seeing China" to "taking China home."

"Shopping is not just consumption. It's a conversation with a city," said Mixalis Tampakakis, a Greek tourist, while strolling along East Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

In the days leading up to the holiday, products featuring Year of the Horse designs and traditional patterns became early bestsellers. At Universal Beijing Resort, Dutch visitor Finn Grunbauer picked up a horse-themed hat and a Spring Festival T-shirt. "The festive atmosphere here makes you want to take this warmth home," he said.

Locally designed apparel with Eastern aesthetics is also gaining traction. At a time-honored clothing store on Jimo Road in east China's coastal city of Qingdao, a young Indian man named Lenin was drawn to a traditional kungfu-style shirt and paid for it on the spot. Store manager Zhang Wen noted that foreign customers contribute over 30 percent of sales.

In Shanghai, a staff member at a LI-NING sportswear store observed a similar trend. "Foreign tourists show a strong interest in new Chinese-style designs. On average, three or four out of every 10 foreign customers end up making a purchase."

China-chic toys are equally popular. At a store of the Chinese toymaker TOP TOY in Shanghai, Lee Han-Bin, a visitor from the Republic of Korea (ROK), picked up a set of building-block toys from the "Great Power" collection. "I've found so many toy stores here. The variety is amazing," he said.

This enthusiasm is resonating with new market trends. In October 2025, five central departments, including the Ministry of Finance, issued a notice requiring duty-free shops to dedicate at least one-quarter of their space to domestic products.

Since November, updated policies for duty-free shopping in Hainan, a southern Chinese island province, have allowed certain domestic products to be sold tax-free at offshore duty-free stores. These include apparel, footwear, hats, ceramic products, silk scarves, coffee, tea and other items that reflect Chinese brands and the island's character.

TECH TREASURES

At a downtown duty-free store in south China's tech hub Shenzhen, an ROK tourist stood before the tech counter, shopping list in hand, asking a sales assistant about the various electronics items on it. "These are trending on the ROK's social media," she said.

During their travels in China, many inbound visitors like her make a special trip to physical stores to experience Chinese high-tech products firsthand that have long been on their wish lists. As foldable phones unfold in their palms and drones lift steadily into the air, their perception of "Made in China" is reshaped time and again -- from "affordable alternative" to "intelligently made in China."

According to a staff member at a smart product store on Shanghai's East Nanjing Road, travelers from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United States have shown strong interest in foldable devices. "Products like earphones and smartwatches are particularly popular in our store. Foreign customers often buy them as gifts for family and friends," said an employee at a Huawei flagship store in Beijing.

Russian tourist Valeriia said that Chinese smart products are "exquisitely made, of excellent quality, and offer a huge variety." This richness of choice has become a recurring keyword among international customers. "Shopping in China is like opening a blind box. Every store has something new to discover," said Jana Le, from Vietnam. In her view, China is not just the "world's factory" but also a source of innovation.

Some high-tech domestic products, though not yet available for immediate purchase, have quietly come to the attention of international shoppers. Martin and Lori, from Croatia, marveled after experiencing smart vehicles in Beijing's Wangfujing shopping district, calling China's new energy vehicles "impressive" for their intelligent cabins, interior design, and overall technological appeal. "If these models enter the European market, we would seriously consider buying one," Martin said.

POLICY BOOST

The growing popularity of "China Travel" and "China Shopping" is fueled by sustained efforts to expand visa-free policies and facilitate inbound travel.

Last year, China expanded its unilateral visa-free access to 48 countries and extended mutual visa exemption agreements to 29 countries. Plus, travelers from 55 countries can take advantage of a 240-hour visa-free transit policy at 65 different entry points. Anastasia Zayats, who comes from Russia and toured Sanya City in Hainan, said the visa-free policy gave her and her family "more courage to come and see this country."

Data from the National Immigration Administration shows that in 2025, China recorded 30.08 million visa-free entries, accounting for 73.1 percent of the total number of foreign entries, a surge of 49.5 percent compared with 2024.

Making it easier to enter is only half the story; making it easier to shop is the other. As of the end of November 2025, there were 12,252 departure tax refund stores nationwide, with over 7,000 of them offering instant refund services. Tian Ling, who runs a Chinese-style clothing store in Shanghai's Xuhui District, said the policy encourages more international customers to make purchases.

The push for shopping convenience in China is also advancing through finer details. As of September 2025, Alipay's international version had partnered with 40 e-wallets across the Asia-Pacific region, allowing travelers to use their preferred payment apps at over 150 million Chinese merchants. "Scanning a QR code to pay is so much easier than swiping a credit card," said Christine Str?m, a German customer buying a Huawei phone at Beijing's China World Mall.

In early February, multiple government departments jointly issued a policy to significantly enhance digital services for inbound travelers by 2027. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce is supporting 15 cities in pilot projects to build an international consumption environment, with the first batch of 1 billion yuan (about 144 million U.S. dollars) recently allocated in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance.

"We will strive to make it more convenient for global consumers to visit, more enjoyable for them to travel, and more affordable for them to shop. So they can experience a more open, inclusive, diverse and innovative China," Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping said.

(Reporting by Cui Enhui, Li Aoqiu, Song Yidai, Zhang Jingyi and Xu Yushen; Video reporters: Song Yidai, Zhang Jingyi, Xu Yushen, Yang Shujun, Zhang Mengjie, You Zhixin and Li Haiwei; Video editors: Hong Liang, Zhu Cong, Li Qin and Yang Zeyi)  ■