Staycations soar as travelers embrace local experiences

He explains the profoundness in simple terms and talks about stories that relate to each other. Some knowledge is obtained from his extensive reading.

His newest tourism product is a hiking route in which he guides local parents and children to explore the city's historical sites together on weekends.

Beijinger Zhai Meng offers experience classes of simple skills relating to several traditional intangible cultural heritages. After the class, guests will get their handmade works, such as a cloisonne pocket mirror or traditional Chinese lip balm.

Her father, who has been a chef for about 40 years, teaches how to make authentic Beijing snacks, such as noodles served with fried bean sauce and spring pancakes.

Zhai and her father's experience classes are available on tourism platforms such as vacation rental provider Airbnb. She started to learn calligraphy and seal cutting when she was a primary school student.

Such classes are popular among inbound tourists, who want to know about Chinese culture and cuisine during their trips.

As inbound travel is suspended in China due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Zhai says guests are now all domestic travelers, including locals, and some are foreign citizens of Chinese origin, who live in China.

Other guests include companies looking for team-building activities and study tours for primary and middle school students.

"I find that more of China's Generation Z are into our traditional culture. It's not because that their parents have paid for the classes, but due to their own interest," says Zhai, who runs a small studio in the city's downtown hutong.

Wu Liyun, an associate professor of the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at Beijing International Studies University, says: "More and more young Chinese like to have an immersive and in-depth travel experience in one destination, rather than have a rushed and superficial trip."

"The challenge for tourism operators is to provide good-quality tourism products and services that visitors need in an innovative way," she says.

She suggests that visitors abide by personal protection rules, know about the destination's rules of COVID-19 prevention and control in advance and avoid visiting crowded places. They can also have a road trip or even drive a recreational vehicle.

He Qiongfeng, head of the Institute of Data Analysis, China Tourism Academy, attributes the popularity of in-depth staycation and short trips to Chinese travelers' yearning to enjoy a good life.

He says the ongoing pandemic has changed the traveling behaviors and tastes of visitors, bringing challenges as well as opportunities to the tourism industry.

"As the domestic tourism market is recovering gradually, tourism products and the form of business operation will demonstrate more in aspects of culture, local lifestyle and the deeper involvement of visitors," he says.