The Chinese government celebrated heavy travel and tourism during China’s Labor Day holiday season, which ran from May 1 to May 5, as a sign the struggling economy is beginning to recover.
Foreign passengers wearing protective suits prepare for their flight to China at Manila’s International Airport, Philippines on Jan. 18, 2021. Also, even with the surge of holiday travelers this year, domestic tourism spending remained very low on a per capita basis. Tourism consultant Peng Han conceded this was probably a sign of Chinese tourists spending “frugally” and looking for “good value options” because they remain nervous about the economy.
A growing number of Chinese vendors do not accept cash. In some cases, the only ways to pay for travel and accommodations are AliPay and WeChat, two platforms not every foreign visitor wants to get involved with. conducted a survey that found only 68 percent of foreign visitors could “successfully” use a Chinese mobile payment service, with about half of the rejections coming from their home credit card companies or banks. China Highlights offers extensive instructions for tourists to China, including a recommendation to use AliPay, which is relatively easy to work with and friendly to foreign banks.