China’s Growing Cultural Tourism Draws Visitors Into the Countryside

When Chinese family drama film “Dear You” hit screens overseas, it did more than tug at heartstrings — it sent flight bookings surging.

Bookings of air tickets for flights from Singapore and Malaysia to Guangdong and Fujian provinces in South China have jumped more than 80% year-on-year since the overseas release of the film in June as descendants of Chinese emigrants rushed to visit the ancestral villages depicted in the movie, Feng Han, head of marketing at Chinese online travel platform Trip.com Group Ltd., said Tuesday at the Asia New Vision Forum 2026.