BEIJING: The repurposed giant steel furnaces of Beijing’s Shougang Park no longer produce metal, but they have become a draw for tourists. In Wuhan’s Optics Valley in Hubei province, visitors explore the technologies behind modern communications, while in Guangdong’s smart factories, robotic production lines have become attractions in their own right. Together, they reflect the rapid rise of industrial tourism across China.
Long associated with smokestacks, assembly lines and production targets, factories are increasingly becoming destinations. Travelers are no longer content with simply viewing landscapes or historical monuments. Many, particularly younger visitors, want to understand how products are made, how technologies work and how China’s industrial transformation has reshaped cities and communities.
Against this backdrop, in May, seven central government departments issued a directive aimed at accelerating the development of industrial tourism nationwide.
The policy, jointly released by agencies including the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, lays out eight key tasks covering heritage surveys, conservation, product development, cultural interpretation, educational integration, promotion and safety management.
The directive calls for nationwide surveys and documentation of industrial heritage resources, along with the establishment of graded and categorized databases to clarify the value and development potential of each site.
It emphasizes the principle of “protection first, rational utilization and minimal intervention”, ensuring that core structures, spatial patterns and authentic industrial features are preserved. Rather than treating industrial heritage as static relics, the policy seeks to safeguard its historical integrity while allowing for appropriate reuse.
The directive also highlights the importance of interpreting industrial cultural values, including craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and innovation, through exhibitions, creative content and cultural products. It further encourages the development of branded cultural goods, including “guochao” (Chinachic) products, to bring industrial heritage into contemporary consumption spaces.
On the tourism side, the policy promotes diversified formats. These include heritage-based redevelopment projects that adapt old industrial sites through creative design and new business models; factory tours that open production lines for public viewing, hands-on participation and product customization; and smart tourism experiences powered by digital technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.
Service quality is another key focus. The directive calls for improved infrastructure, professional guide training, better integration with urban transport systems, and enhanced multilingual services and tax refund facilitation to support inbound tourism.
The document signals a shift in thinking that industrial tourism is no longer viewed as a niche form of factory sightseeing. Instead, policymakers increasingly see it as a platform for integrating culture, tourism and industry while showcasing the achievements of Chinese modernization.
According to Hou Yanquan, an associate researcher with the strategic planning institute at the Industrial Culture Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has more than 140 national-level industrial tourism demonstration bases. Industry forecasts suggest the sector could maintain annual growth of around 18 percent through 2029, with market value potentially exceeding 300 billion yuan ($44.5 billion).
Behind those figures lies a deeper change in consumer behavior.
Gong Jian, a professor at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Central China Normal University, said that tourism was largely associated with mountains, ancient towns and scenic attractions in the past, but today’s visitors increasingly seek knowledge and participation alongside leisure. Young travelers want to understand the technologies behind new energy vehicles, optical fibers, industrial robots and advanced manufacturing systems, Gong said.
The trend reflects a growing demand for authenticity in tourism experiences. Unlike purpose-built attractions, industrial tourism often takes place in real production environments. Visitors encounter working factories, preserved workshops, original machinery — and the people who operate them.
“What visitors see is not a replica or a staged performance. They see real production sites, real processes and real labor,” Gong said.
The transformation of China’s manufacturing sector has further expanded the appeal. Smart factories, automated workshops and digital production systems have replaced many traditional images of heavy industry, creating environments that combine technology, innovation and education.
Ma Xiaolong, a tourism professor at Nankai University, said projects that offer immersive and participatory experiences have performed particularly well.
He identified intelligent manufacturing facilities, traditional craft enterprises and revitalized industrial heritage sites as among the fastest-growing categories.
