A new way of traveling is quietly taking shape: on overseas tourists' itineraries, alongside the Great Wall, giant pandas, and the Terracotta Army, a new line item is appearing — "visit a factory."

　　Amid this trend are foreign tourists who travel to China specifically to see production lines, as well as overseas buyers deeply involved in cross-border supply chains.Barrett, a British tourist, revisited Ningbo after more than two decades — skipping Tiantong Temple and Dongqian Lake — and instead toured factories making kitchen appliances, new-energy vehicles, and chip testing equipment. In Taicang, Russian visitor Romanzov had his understanding reshaped by the highly automated rhythm of the factory floor. In Xiamen, American tourist Liang Kunlong visited metalworking, electronics, and lighting companies, marveling at the advanced products and their supporting ecosystems. As early as 2023, Brandon, an American buyer, brought fellow merchants on a group visit to an electric bicycle factory in Guangzhou, where he test-rode an e-bike, hoping to work with the Chinese factory to refine new products.

　　This "factory tour" craze is no accident. Data from HopeGoo, the international travel booking platform under Tongcheng Travel, shows that bookings for inbound "factory tour" travel products during this summer's peak season surged more than ninefold year on year, making factory tours a new growth highlight of inbound tourism. What were once production floors marked "No Unauthorized Personnel" have now become a new window through which overseas tourists can understand "Made in China."