Industrial tourism brings the public closer to China's major industrial facilities, equipment

In recent years, industrial tourism has become a major hit in China, with major industrial facilities opening their doors to the general public. Once off-limits industrial sites are now becoming popular tourist attractions.

On a crisp autumn weekend, a queue of visitors snaked around the corner beneath the sign of the museum of Chinese automaker China FAW Group Co., Ltd. in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province. Among those waiting were middle-aged visitors and young parents holding their children's hands.

"My child loves cars and has lots of toy cars at home," said Liu Na, a visitor from Beijing. "Changchun has a rich automotive heritage, so I thought I'd bring my child here during the holiday."

Photo shows classic models of Hongqi, a car brand under China's leading automaker China FAW Group Co., Ltd., on display at the China FAW Museum in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Photo/Zhu Wanchang)

On July 21, the China FAW Museum officially opened.

The museum occupies a former tool workshop of the First Automotive Works, predecessor of China FAW Group Co., Ltd. The building itself is an industrial heritage site and was designated a key cultural relic unit under state protection in China in 2013.

The construction team preserved its original aesthetic, retaining old equipment such as a quenching furnace and an assembly platform. With help from retired employees, the team also recreated several historical settings, including the original tool workshop, central design office and workers' night school.

"We have brought together many milestones in the history of China's automobile industry, including the first automobile in the People's Republic of China, the first passenger car and first luxury sedan. Through this museum, we hope to tell the story of Changchun's automotive industry as comprehensively and systematically as possible," said Pan Cheng, a member of the museum's preparatory team.

In July 2024, Changchun launched an industrial tourism route. The route offers a view into the entire automotive industry chain, from its history and culture to intelligent manufacturing. In the two years since its launch, it has drawn nearly 400,000 visits.

A quick drive just northeast of downtown Shanghai, through a long river-crossing tunnel, brings visitors to Changxing Island. There, towering gantry cranes and an expansive wharf dominate the waterfront: this is the industrial tourism base of Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai.

Photo shows ships under construction at a pier at Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. (Photo/Ding Ziyu)

"You can see the country's major equipment up close here, and that is what makes the site so appealing to visitors," said Jiang Han, director of market operations at a media company under Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. The base has welcomed more than 330,000 visits to date and was designated a national industrial tourism demonstration base in 2022.

One of the highlights of the visit for tourists is the ability to build their own model ship. Working in simulated shipbuilding teams, visitors turn a classroom into a "miniature shipyard," where they learn how ship structures are assembled and how vessels are built in sections.

"We hope that when young people stand before these giant ships and look up at them in awe, they will be inspired to dream of building ships themselves. That is the main reason we have put so much effort into developing industrial tourism," Jiang said.

A study tour group visits a large container ship under construction at a pier at Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. (Photo/Zheng Yongqiang)

Since its maiden launch on Nov. 30, 2024, the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, had completed 21 consecutive successful launches by August this year. Alongside the nearby Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, it has helped turn rocket watching from a matter of luck into an experience visitors can plan their trips around. The number of people traveling to Wenchang specifically to watch launches has been gradually increasing.

A rocket lifts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in south China's Hainan Province. (Photo/Yun Weisheng)

"In the past, you had to hope you'd be lucky enough to catch a launch. Now, watching rockets take off has become a regular part of a trip to Wenchang. And after seeing a launch, we want to learn more about how rockets work and everything that goes into sending them into space," said a visitor from central China's Henan Province.

Ma Xia has spent nearly a decade organizing space-themed tours in Wenchang and her calendar is practically filled with launch dates. She has watched 49 of the 51 launches conducted at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site and has attended every launch at the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site since it was built.

This summer, the Wenchang Space Science Education Center received 44,000 visits.

Every extra night tourists spend in Wenchang injects even more life into the local economy: in 2025, Longlou, a "space town" in Wenchang, welcomed more than 400,000 visitors and generated 60 million yuan (about $8.97 million) in tourism revenue.