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The “special forces” travel fad among young people in China could be bad news for Beijing

Young people traveling to see as much as possible, for as little money as possible.

Young Chinese travelers are hitting the road after three years of covid restrictions, and their appro ach is all about speed, thrift, and fun.

The new fad, called “special forces-style travel” (特种兵式旅游), has gone viral in China over the past couple months. The idea is simple: travel to as many touristic sites in as little time as possible, all while spending the least amount of money. The grueling itineraries that result from the philosophy have earned it the military comparison.

“Special forces” tourism began trending during China’s Qingming Festival holiday (April 4 to 5) and Labor Day holiday (April 29 to May 3). During that time, frenetic videos of “special forces” travel started popping on social media feeds, depicting young people jam-packing their schedules on a shoe-string budget while traveling (and eating) their way through cities across China.

Shanghai-based digital news outlet The Paper (澎湃新闻) interviewed (link in Chinese) a tourism manager who attributed the fad’s emergence to the release of pent-up demand following covid, the warming weather and the start of travel season, influence from the media, and desire to jump on the trend.

The fact that a record one in five young people in China are unemployed might also be a contributing factor.

Sleeping anywhere, traveling everywhere

University students following the “special forces” tourism trend have been getting their shut eye in internet cafes and even sleeper trains in order to travel cheaply, as CGTN reports. In some cases, university students have even opted to sleep at 24-hour locations of a Chinese hot pot chain, Haidilao, in order to save on costs (link in Chinese).

A major part of the trend has been documenting one’s hyper-efficient “special forces” itinerary. In one video (link in Chinese), a university student boasts of traveling “everywhere” in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, visiting 10 different sites in just 24 hours (and a little over 40,000 steps).

Other itineraries show off extremely low travel costs , sometimes totaling as little as 150 yuan ($21) to 300 yuan ($43) for a two-day trip.

“Special forces” travel is not likely to help China’s economy recovery

The anti-spending sentiment could be bad news for Beijing as its economy struggles to recover from its near standstill during covid lockdowns . So far, some economic recovery has been driven by a rise in consumption, but it seems the appetite for spending on travel is still depressed.

During the Labor Day holiday, Chinese travelers made 274 million trips , representing a 19% uptick from 2019, as Reuters reports. But spending didn’t appear to keep up, with an average of 540 yuan ($77) spent on travel over the May holiday in 2023, down from 603 yuan ($86) in 2019.

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Tourists on a mission to capture scenic glory

High-intensity travel a trend among young Chinese keen to see more sites

Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Meng Jiao used the phrase "see all the flowers of Chang'an in one day (on horseback)" to describe the joyous mood following success at the imperial examination. Today, this type of high-intensity travel is being realized.

A trend of "traveling like a special forces soldier" has emerged in China. It involves visiting numerous attractions in a short span of time and with a small budget. Some examples include touring Beijing in two days, tasting all the signature delicacies in Zibo in 24 hours and even conquering five mountains across five provinces in just five days.

Since the May Day holiday, this style of travel has been favored by many tourists, especially college students. Su Yu, a college student from Hangzhou, had a "special forces-style" trip this summer, exploring four cities across three provinces in just five days: Yangzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Wuhan in Hubei province and Nanchang in Jiangxi province, according to China Tourism News.

Su spent less than 1,000 yuan ($140) on this trip. To keep costs down, Su chose to take a hard seat, the most economical option, on an overnight train from Nanjing to Nanchang.

"I fell asleep as soon as I got on the train, which saved me accommodation expenses and I woke up feeling refreshed in the morning," Su said.

"Superficial sightseeing can also be a meaningful travel experience and the most important thing is to have fun," Su said. "As the internet saying goes, 'Youth is priceless and happiness is found in the present.'"

Lu Ziyi, a history and geography enthusiast born in the 2000s, has planned a summer trip with friends to cross the Qinling Mountains. Their journey starts from Luoyang, Henan province, goes to Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and Hanzhong, Zhejiang province and ends in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Lu told China Tourism News: "I hope to make the most of my youth, time and energy by exploring and appreciating more places."

For successful "special forces-style travel", it is essential to have not only physical fitness and well-planned itineraries but a highly efficient transportation network.

According to Yangcheng Evening News, the opening of the high-speed rail in Guangdong province 13 years ago has led to a more than 50 percent increase in the number of tourists from the Pearl River Delta to cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Changsha.

In May, a young man from Chengdu shared his "five peaks in five days" trip on social media. He attributed the success of this seemingly impossible adventure to China's remarkable transportation network. The five mountains are located in five different provinces, which are Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Hunan.

Despite saving money and time and offering flexibility, high-intensity travel has its drawbacks such as fatigue and a lack of depth in travel experiences.

In a "special forces-style" weekend trip, Xiao Wen, a college student, took an overnight train to Suzhou, Jiangsu province, after her last class on Friday, arriving early Saturday morning. She had a packed itinerary, which included visiting various attractions and taking photos wearing costumes. On Sunday afternoon, she rushed back to school without any rest, Wenzhou City News reported.

Xiao said that while traveling with friends was enjoyable, she doesn't plan on having a similar trip again because it was too exhausting and that it was less fulfilling for her to explore a city for such a short period of time.

Chen Ye, vice-dean of Nankai University's College of Tourism and Service Management, told China Tourism News that "special forces-style travel" and "budget travel" share the same objective of saving time and money. However, the former has gained popularity through social media and has become a trend among young people.

Jin Binjian, president of the Zhejiang Tourism and B&B Industry Association, noted that many young people would eventually return to in-depth travel. "Special forces-style travel" is more like a preliminary exploration for them, Jin added.

If their first travel experience is good, there may be a second, in-depth trip. This means that there are higher expectations for the quality of services and management provided by tourist attractions, Jin told Wenzhou City News.

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China's domestic travel recovery marred by anti-spending 'special forces'

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Reporting by Casey Hall and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Lincoln Feast.

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Casey has reported on China's consumer culture from her base in Shanghai for more than a decade, covering what Chinese consumers are buying, and the broader social and economic trends driving those consumption trends. The Australian-born journalist has lived in China since 2007.

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Xinhua | April 28, 2023

Making stops at multiple attractions in quick succession and enjoying foods from street stalls and eateries in a hurried fashion before scurrying to the next instagrammable location, it is dubbed "Special Forces Style Travel" by Chinese netizens, a hip way among young people in China to make the best out of short holiday breaks.

The trend was particularly prominent this month during "Sanyuesan", a traditional festival celebrated by many ethnic groups across China, and was especially noteworthy in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A phrase prefixed with "Guangxi Sanyuesan" became a trending topic on the Chinese social media site Weibo, with over 56 million reads.

"Sanyuesan" was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in Guangxi in 2014. The region, which is home to the majority of the Zhuang ethnic group, was granted an official two-day holiday starting on March 3rd of the lunar calendar each year in honor of the occasion, which is rich both in rituals and traditions.

However, this year's "Sanyuesan" fell on April 22, a Saturday, hence a three-day weekend.

Railway stations in Nanning, the capital city of the region, sent out over 1.58 million passenger trips during "Sanyuesan," a whopping 883.1 percent increase from the comparable period last year.

Lu Yuan, a local university employee, was among the armies of outbound "special forces" who seized the long weekend and decided to get away.

She hopped on a bullet train in Nanning in the early morning of April 21 and arrived at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station roughly four hours later.

"I caught some sleep on the train, so I was pumped up for the rest of the day," Lu said.

She and her friend did a quick yet comprehensive tour of the city, visited some of the iconic local attractions on the day they arrived, and spent the second day at Disneyland. Before catching the train home on the third day, they also did some shopping and enjoyed a hearty lunch at a famous local cafe.

"Places like Hong Kong are desirable destinations for this type of hasty tourism because they are dotted with photo-worthy places, and the whole city is an amazing food court," Lu added.

Between April 21 and 23, tourism hotspots in Guangxi were bustling with people amid the region-wide jubilation of "Sanyuesan" as train tickets from Nanning to Guilin, Beihai, and Liuzhou were sold out days in advance.

The influx of tourists who sought to indulge in the authentic Guangxi experience is a welcome sign of a tourism rebound, with the number of orders placed during "Sanyuesan" exceeding that of 2019, according to data provided by Meituan, a life service platform.

Chen Zusheng, an engineer from the neighboring Guangdong Province, took a two-day paid leave and became an inbound "special forces" traveler in his home province of Guangxi. During his trip, he had a little get-together with his college softball team and played some friendly matches with several local teams.

"It's a rare occasion where I can re-connect with some friends from the old days and pay a visit to some places for old-time sake," Chen said.

Chen also promised his local teammates a reunion during the next "Sanyuesan."

"It's a short break of unique significance for Guangxi," Chen said. "If the holiday lasted over five days, most people would choose to travel outside the region, and our reunion would not have happened."

Chen would later switch on his hardcore foodie mode and go to Liuzhou, the hometown of Luosifen, the stinky snail noodle, by train before returning to Guangdong.

This year, Nanning, Liuzhou, and Guilin ranked among the top three most-visited cities in the region during "Sanyuesan", according to the local tourism authorities, with Liuzhou seeing a 105.1 percent year-on-year increase in the number of tourists and a sharp rise of 121.5 percent in revenue from a year earlier.

The coastal city of Beihai enjoyed staggering 335.1 percent and 289.4 percent increases in the number of visitors and revenue generated respectively, compared to the same period last year.

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Tourists on a mission to capture scenic glory

High-intensity travel a trend among young Chinese keen to see more sites

Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Meng Jiao used the phrase "see all the flowers of Chang'an in one day (on horseback)" to describe the joyous mood following success at the imperial examination. Today, this type of high-intensity travel is being realized.

A trend of "traveling like a special forces soldier" has emerged in China. It involves visiting numerous attractions in a short span of time and with a small budget. Some examples include touring Beijing in two days, tasting all the signature delicacies in Zibo in 24 hours and even conquering five mountains across five provinces in just five days.

Since the May Day holiday, this style of travel has been favored by many tourists, especially college students. Su Yu, a college student from Hangzhou, had a "special forces-style" trip this summer, exploring four cities across three provinces in just five days: Yangzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Wuhan in Hubei province and Nanchang in Jiangxi province, according to China Tourism News.

Su spent less than 1,000 yuan ($140) on this trip. To keep costs down, Su chose to take a hard seat, the most economical option, on an overnight train from Nanjing to Nanchang.

"I fell asleep as soon as I got on the train, which saved me accommodation expenses and I woke up feeling refreshed in the morning," Su said.

"Superficial sightseeing can also be a meaningful travel experience and the most important thing is to have fun," Su said. "As the internet saying goes, 'Youth is priceless and happiness is found in the present.'"

Lu Ziyi, a history and geography enthusiast born in the 2000s, has planned a summer trip with friends to cross the Qinling Mountains. Their journey starts from Luoyang, Henan province, goes to Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and Hanzhong, Zhejiang province and ends in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Lu told China Tourism News: "I hope to make the most of my youth, time and energy by exploring and appreciating more places."

For successful "special forces-style travel", it is essential to have not only physical fitness and well-planned itineraries but a highly efficient transportation network.

According to Yangcheng Evening News, the opening of the high-speed rail in Guangdong province 13 years ago has led to a more than 50 percent increase in the number of tourists from the Pearl River Delta to cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Changsha.

In May, a young man from Chengdu shared his "five peaks in five days" trip on social media. He attributed the success of this seemingly impossible adventure to China's remarkable transportation network. The five mountains are located in five different provinces, which are Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Hunan.

Despite saving money and time and offering flexibility, high-intensity travel has its drawbacks such as fatigue and a lack of depth in travel experiences.

In a "special forces-style" weekend trip, Xiao Wen, a college student, took an overnight train to Suzhou, Jiangsu province, after her last class on Friday, arriving early Saturday morning. She had a packed itinerary, which included visiting various attractions and taking photos wearing costumes. On Sunday afternoon, she rushed back to school without any rest, Wenzhou City News reported.

Xiao said that while traveling with friends was enjoyable, she doesn't plan on having a similar trip again because it was too exhausting and that it was less fulfilling for her to explore a city for such a short period of time.

Chen Ye, vice-dean of Nankai University's College of Tourism and Service Management, told China Tourism News that "special forces-style travel" and "budget travel" share the same objective of saving time and money. However, the former has gained popularity through social media and has become a trend among young people.

Jin Binjian, president of the Zhejiang Tourism and B&B Industry Association, noted that many young people would eventually return to in-depth travel. "Special forces-style travel" is more like a preliminary exploration for them, Jin added.

If their first travel experience is good, there may be a second, in-depth trip. This means that there are higher expectations for the quality of services and management provided by tourist attractions, Jin told Wenzhou City News.

• Across China: "Special Forces" style tourism booms during ethnic holiday season

NANNING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Making stops at multiple attractions in quick succession and enjoying foods from street stalls and eateries in a hurried fashion before scurrying to the next instagrammable location, it is dubbed "Special Forces Style Travel" by Chinese netizens, a hip way among young people in China to make the best out of short holiday breaks.

The trend was particularly prominent this month during "Sanyuesan", a traditional festival celebrated by many ethnic groups across China, and was especially noteworthy in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A phrase prefixed with "Guangxi Sanyuesan" became a trending topic on the Chinese social media site Weibo, with over 56 million reads.

"Sanyuesan" was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in Guangxi in 2014. The region, which is home to the majority of the Zhuang ethnic group, was granted an official two-day holiday starting on March 3rd of the lunar calendar each year in honor of the occasion, which is rich both in rituals and traditions.

However, this year's "Sanyuesan" fell on April 22, a Saturday, hence a three-day weekend.

Railway stations in Nanning, the capital city of the region, sent out over 1.58 million passenger trips during "Sanyuesan," a whopping 883.1 percent increase from the comparable period last year.

Lu Yuan, a local university employee, was among the armies of outbound "special forces" who seized the long weekend and decided to get away.

She hopped on a bullet train in Nanning in the early morning of April 21 and arrived at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station roughly four hours later.

"I caught some sleep on the train, so I was pumped up for the rest of the day," Lu said.

She and her friend did a quick yet comprehensive tour of the city, visited some of the iconic local attractions on the day they arrived, and spent the second day at Disneyland. Before catching the train home on the third day, they also did some shopping and enjoyed a hearty lunch at a famous local cafe.

"Places like Hong Kong are desirable destinations for this type of hasty tourism because they are dotted with photo-worthy places, and the whole city is an amazing food court," Lu added.

Between April 21 and 23, tourism hotspots in Guangxi were bustling with people amid the region-wide jubilation of "Sanyuesan" as train tickets from Nanning to Guilin, Beihai, and Liuzhou were sold out days in advance.

The influx of tourists who sought to indulge in the authentic Guangxi experience is a welcome sign of a tourism rebound, with the number of orders placed during "Sanyuesan" exceeding that of 2019, according to data provided by Meituan, a life service platform.

Chen Zusheng, an engineer from the neighboring Guangdong Province, took a two-day paid leave and became an inbound "special forces" traveler in his home province of Guangxi. During his trip, he had a little get-together with his college softball team and played some friendly matches with several local teams.

"It's a rare occasion where I can re-connect with some friends from the old days and pay a visit to some places for old-time sake," Chen said.

Chen also promised his local teammates a reunion during the next "Sanyuesan."

"It's a short break of unique significance for Guangxi," Chen said. "If the holiday lasted over five days, most people would choose to travel outside the region, and our reunion would not have happened."

Chen would later switch on his hardcore foodie mode and go to Liuzhou, the hometown of Luosifen, the stinky snail noodle, by train before returning to Guangdong.

This year, Nanning, Liuzhou, and Guilin ranked among the top three most-visited cities in the region during "Sanyuesan", according to the local tourism authorities, with Liuzhou seeing a 105.1 percent year-on-year increase in the number of tourists and a sharp rise of 121.5 percent in revenue from a year earlier.

The coastal city of Beihai enjoyed staggering 335.1 percent and 289.4 percent increases in the number of visitors and revenue generated respectively, compared to the same period last year. Enditem

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China's domestic travel recovery marred by anti-spending 'special forces' holidaymakers

SHANGHAI - When graduate student Cai Zhishan decided to spend her Labour Day holidays in northern China, she wished she had enough money to hire a car for the more than 4,000km round trip.

Instead, she chose “travelling like special forces”, a new trend in China that has emerged as a symptom of the underlying weakness in household consumption, and which is casting a shadow over a post-pandemic recovery in domestic tourism.

Ms Cai, 22, mostly took slow trains and buses as she made her way from the city of Hangzhou where she studies, around the northern Shanxi province, and back.

To get to the ancient temples, pagodas and grottoes she wanted to visit, she walked roughly 30,000 steps a day.

For accommodation, she chose overnight trains and cheap hostel beds.

Over nine days, she spent just 2,500 yuan (S$480).

“I don’t have much money, but I like to travel,” Ms Cai said. “I can control the expenses, to go to many places for the least amount of money, but it is really tiring.”

On social media, the hashtag “special forces travel” – which refers to an aggressive assault on a tourist area to see and do as much as possible for as little money one can spend – went viral before and during the Labour Day break starting in late April.

Ms Cai was inspired by the online discussions, like many other Chinese travellers who surprised with their thriftiness.

Ministry of Culture and Tourism data showed a boom in domestic travel in 2023, as many Chinese made up for the three years of Covid-19 restrictions that kept them largely stuck at home.

During the May holiday break, which for most Chinese covered the April 28 to May 3 period, 274 million trips were made, up 19 per cent from 2019, before the pandemic.

But total spending was 148 billion yuan, on a par with 2019, meaning travellers spent an average of 540 yuan in 2023 versus 603 yuan in 2019.

In another sign of tight pockets, international trips by Chinese tourists in 2023 remain a fraction of pre-pandemic levels.

“Chinese overall are not ready to spend as much as before and, even if the government tries… to entice consumption and reduce excess savings, I doubt it will manage,” said Dr Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis Research.

“People need jobs and higher wages to start spending big again.”

Domestic consumption, which Chinese policymakers want to play a greater role in powering the world’s second-largest economy, has recovered since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in December, but has consistently underwhelmed so far in 2023.

China’s struggling property market, record high youth unemployment and broader worries over job stability, as well as government parsimony on wages, pensions and medical benefits, are keeping consumers cautious, analysts say.

Data on Tuesday showed retail sales were up 18.4 per cent in April from 2022, when Shanghai was under lockdown, undershooting expectations of a 21 per cent rise.

Consumer confidence has bounced from 2022’s record lows, but remains below the range of the previous two decades.

One travel blogger, who posts on the Instagram-like social media app Xiaohongshu under the name of Icecube, said that he slept overnight in a public toilet to save money on a trip to Huangshan mountain in the southern Anhui province.

“It’s worth it,” said the blogger, who declined to give his real name.

“Although I suffered a little, I spent the least money possible to see beautiful scenery. In the future, I may consider adding a little to the budget to improve accommodation conditions.”

For those betting on consumption gathering speed as the year progresses, maybe not all is lost.

Beijinger Xing Zicong, 23, tried to visit the historical Silk Road city of Xi’an on a shoestring, but found it too uncomfortable and ended up spending more money than planned.

“Maybe I didn’t wear the right shoes, but my feet started to hurt after walking more than 10,000 steps,” she said, joking that she exemplified “the battle-scarred version of special forces travel”. REUTERS

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Peking Ensight

What makes China's "special-forces-style" travelers special?

Tourism has gradually become a rigid demand for the young Chinese nowadays, as they are proud of and keen to learn the country's landscapes and history.

Zhang Nan, a young man from China's Chengdu city, has made himself an online celebrity by posting his record of topping "Wu Yue," five famous Chinese mountains located in five separate provinces, within five days, and his refined schedules and fast-paced travels made him a typical young Chinese in love with low-budget and physically challenging travel.

A new fad among young Chinese, such trips were made mostly by college students or workplace newcomers who have taken pride in completing their seemingly impossible travel plans and fancied themselves as special forces.

They normally set out on Friday nights or holiday eves and manage to get back on the morning of the next workday to catch their courses or work, after rushing to dozens of spots during their weekend tours.

These hectic travelers usually post their itinerary routes online, share the scenes of excitement, fatigue, missed sceneries as well as the time spent with friends. The ones that are likely to attract most attention online are those who have traveled the longest possible distance and visited the most possible scenic spots within the least time and the least possible spending.

Their travel style elicited mixed comments from the media and the public. Reporter Casey Hall of Reuters labeled them as "anti-spending special forces" and "a symptom of the underlying weakness in household consumption." Zhang Han with the Global Times, an English newspaper under the People's Daily, discovered "a sense of urgency" in the travelers, particularly junior and senior year students whose college life was largely sealed off on campus or restrained at home due to COVID-19.

As these young Chinese are keen on arranging busy schedules to make up travel plans that were postponed, some skeptics belittle the style as "a completely cursory tour without learning anything."

Peking Ensight advocates a discussion of the phenomenon from multiple perspectives, especially overlooked ones.

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A RIGID DEMAND OF SEEING THE WORLD

Such travelers not only enjoy the beautiful sceneries along their journey, but also gain psychological satisfaction and cultural experiences as well.

Experts say the "special forces tourism" is likely to become a trend, and more attention should be paid to this kind of personalized tourism pattern and people's ever detailed demands.

Industry insiders also spotted business opportunities in the "special forces" style travel boom, with some suggesting that tourist destinations and relevant enterprises could focus more on the need of the young people to develop more novel services.

"Young people such as college students have their own travel choices, and their eagerness to see the world deserves respect. The 'special forces tourism' reflects their courage in exploring the outside world," said Ma Shihan, a researcher with Zhejiang University.

The huge potential of China's tourism market is a strong support for the thriving of different tourism patterns.

According to the country's culture and tourism ministry, Chinese people made 274 million domestic trips during its May Day holiday which started on April 29, a 70.83 percent increase from last year's holiday period.

The tourism revenue also reached over 148 billion yuan, and that was 128.9 percent higher from last year, according to the ministry.

THRIFT CULTURE REMAINS

Despite the time and budget limits, these travelers were determined to go out and to spend. Such behavior is nowhere near the so-called "anti-spending" manner of tourism.

On the contrary, the "special-forces-style" tourism is in itself a kind of "pro-spending" approach under the traditional Chinese thrift culture, where one tends to live within one's means.

On that basis, these travelers acted boldly enough in making plans and attempts, no matter how challenging the tasks were to their physical conditions.

Emotionally, no one felt like being poor in the process. Instead, such travelers tried to do as many things as they could during the journey and found pleasure in it. Between the toil of traveling, there were also emotional gains and self-recognition.

Not only that, it is also arbitrary to label the "special forces" travelers "anti-spending" when the phrase is primarily referred to the opposition to excessive governmental spending. If the travelers do want to be against spending, why bother taking a trip or trips when simply staying at home is apparently the cheaper choice?

On the contrary, it should be deemed a comforting sign that there are fortunately still a group of young people who are embracing this frugal consumption culture of making both ends meet, when today's consumers seem to have long accepted the philosophy of living on credit.

ENABLING INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES

One thing often overlooked by observers is that China's sophisticated transport network and high-standard infrastructure are an enabler of such "special rushes."

Zhang has accomplished what his parents could have never imagined at his age, as the country's transportation network has seen sea changes in the past two decades.

Back in 2000, a train trip would have taken twice the time needed today, while the expressway network was also less sophisticated. Even in the past five years alone, China's total length of high-speed railways in operation expanded from 25,000 km to 42,000 km, while the length of expressways increased from 136,000 km to 177,000 km.

Another factor that helps make "special forces tourism" happen is the unprecedented life convenience brought by powerful internet applications. Young people nowadays can get abundant travel information instantly on smartphones and other devices, which empowers them to precisely manage their schedule and be able to make timely adjustments during the journey.

With the support of the country's massive huge transportation network and a flourishing digital life, young Chinese have a greater chance now than ever to accomplish an adventurous journey on time.

JOYS AND SORROWS

Special forces is a strenuous labor to some extent. But such trips bring more joys to the travelers, with many thinking it is all worth it.

Hasty it may seem, the "special forces" style is applauded by some as a "youthful impulse," which is more about being with someone or just doing something together. It has not much to do with "learning," or being of worldly "meanings."

Some would just grab his or her bag and hop on a train to see a person missed so much or not seen for so long. It doesn't have to be a big meal or a luxury gift there. It is the person you hug or kiss that matters.

After all, it is a journey that restores you as you go, a journey that is not all about material things. The moments also shine when you were being happy, sad, or even happy-sad along the way.

These travel experiences not only serve as a boost to the spirit, but also leave something to cherish.

"The best thing it leaves to me is probably a sense of calmness in doing things, after going to so many places and doing so many things in only two days," said a netizen who have participated in "special forces" tours.

TO BE CONTINUED

The three years of COVID impacts have marred the country's tourism industry but at the same time generated huge pent-up demand, which has created waves of "revenge consumption," a way people choose to spend more time or money than usual to make up for their lost joy.

More stories of the "special-forces-style" travel will likely be unfolded, as the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, starting June 22, and the summer vacation are drawing near.

In the eyes of Wu Liyun, director of the Research Center for New Businesses in Tourism at Beijing International Studies University, this new trend is only the consumption behavior of a specific group at a specific stage where both income and time are limited.

This phenomenon could be ephemeral, but it may also evolve into a collective memory of a generation.

Some critics say the young travelers were a bit self-righteous as their physical and mental powers are utterly no comparison to the real special forces troopers. But so what? Young and bold -- that's what makes youth tempting and adorable.

Ready for more?

China Memes & Viral

The rise of china’s “special forces travel”: the mission to get the ultimate budget trip in limited time.

Fun, fast, frugal: this Chinese travel trend is all about doing as much as possible at a low price within a limited time.

This Labor Day holiday, ‘special forces travelers’ are flooding popular tourist spots across China. Their mission is clear: covering as many places as possible at the lowest cost and within a limited time. While the travel trend has become a social media hype, there are also those criticizing the trend for being superficial and troublesome.

S ocial media platforms in China are witnessing the emergence of a new trend in short videos and posts featuring content tagged as “college student special forces” (大学生特种兵).

These posts showcase vloggers’ travels in a particular location, featuring a compilation of photos and video clips of famous tourist destinations. The videos typically begin with the title “College Student Special Forces: 24/48 hours Eating/Exploring [Location]” (大学生特种兵之24/48小时吃/玩遍xx), followed by stylish sentences to provide more context.

The official Weibo account of Sichuan Radio and Television’s Sichuan Observation featured one particular “college student special forces” video that showcased a 24-hour eating tour of Sichuan. The video included photos of various Sichuan dishes, such as Bo Bo chicken (钵钵鸡), tofu pudding (豆腐脑), and shaved ice dessert (冰粉), with succinct commentary such as “[xxx food] has been eaten” accompanying each dish.

This collage features four dishes showcased in the videos. The top row, from left to right, shows ice dessert and bobo chicken; the bottom row features tofu pudding and potato pancake. Screenshots via video .

These videos showcase a new trend in domestic travel called “special forces style traveling.” According to an article by Hongxing News on Weibo, this type of travel is characterized by short durations, visits to numerous tourist spots, low expenses, and excitement.

The article provides an example of this travel style by featuring a college student’s one-day itinerary to Guangyuan in Sichuan. In the itinerary, the student arrives in Guangyuan at 9 am, visits eight tourist spots, and returns to school by 11 pm, spending a total of 202 RMB [$29]. This amount includes the cost of train tickets (111 RMB/$16), entrance fees to tourist spots, local transportation, and meals.

This photo displays the travel itinerary of the college students from the original Weibo article , including the expenses in RMB indicated in the brackets. The author has provided a translation of the itinerary for reference.

This 11-hour travel experience is perhaps only a moderate version of the ‘special forces’ style, which can sometimes be extreme.

According to an article by Toutiao News , two first-year college students left their campus on Friday after class and took a 10-hour train ride to Beijing, arriving at 5:30 am on Saturday. Despite the long journey, they stayed up all night on Saturday to witness the flag-raising ceremony in Tiananmen Square at 3 am on Sunday.

Similarly, one graduate student spent a day at World Studio and then embarked on a late-night climb up Mount Taishan – the highest of the five sacred mountains in China, – at 11 pm on Friday. She then traveled to Jinan at noon for lunch and sightseeing, and headed to Zibo at night for barbecue on Saturday before departing for Beijing at 11 pm.

Remarkably, all of these students managed to return to school in time for their Monday morning classes as usual.

Compilation of posts showing extreme travel schedules, such as: arriving in Beijing at 5:45; 6:10 Nanluoguxiang; 7:00 Gulou; 8:30 Palace Museum; 11:00 moat of the Forbidden City; 14:00 Lama Temple; 15:40 Summer Palace; 21:00 Tiananmen Square.

The rise of the “special forces” style of travel has garnered support from Chinese netizens and media outlets alike.

Xinjing News reports that this approach demonstrates young people’s consideration for time and cost, as well as their ability to adapt to fast-paced environments.

Others also see it as a way for college students to seize the day and build resilience by facing challenges head-on. Local media outlets have also embraced the “special forces” concept as a marketing strategy to promote tourism. They create and promote travel itineraries that showcase all the area’s tourist attractions in under half a minute through short videos.

A screenshot from Hangzhou Public Security’s Weibo post on a new “special forces” style travel route that covers seven tourist spots. Tourists are encouraged to meet with the public security forces at each spot in exchange for special gifts from Hangzhou Public Security.

Despite the hype surrounding the trend, there are also concerns and annoyances about this form of travel.

Some think the trend is unhealthy. As a Weibo post by China News Weekly warns, this travel style, with high-intensity exercise and deprivation of sleep, can be be bad for your health (# 特种兵式旅游存在健康隐患 #).

Others are more annoyed about the “special force” travelers becoming a nuisance to others due to their frugality. One recent viral hashtag was about so many travelers sleeping at the tables of a 24-hour Haidilao hotpot restaurant that they were unable to serve other customers (# 海底捞一门店睡满人导致无法用餐 #).

Sleeping at Haidilao.

According to a Weibo post pinned on top of the hashtag page, many college students slept in the restaurant after finishing their meals because of the many performances happening in Nanjing during the Labor Day holiday (五一假期). One Weibo user made a playful comment under the hashtag, joking about the frugality of this type of travel: “It seems like this is a special forces trip after all. The main feature is to simply have a roof over your head.”

A photo from Vista’s Weibo post under the hashtag. Haidilao restaurant customers complain about queuing up at 3 am because of college students sleeping in the shop, showing students’ suitcases outside the restaurant.

Other netizens also question how meaningful this kind of travel style is: does the “special forces” traveler actually experience local culture, or are they just flaunting their travels for social media and skimming over everything without learning anything? The word used is zǒumǎ guān huā (走马观花), which literally means glancing over flowers while riding on horseback: having a superficial understanding from cursory observation.

As one user of the Q&A platform Zhihu comments , this travel style simply enables people to “punch the clock” (打卡, showing to have acquired something new or traveled somewhere) or “clock in” to many places in order to post about it on WeChat or Tiktok: “There is actually no difference compared to to the old travel style of ‘sleeping on the bus, taking photos off the bus’ (上车睡觉，下车拍照)’. Both [kind of travelers] return home with nothing learned.”

Despite raising some criticism, many people view the “special forces” style of travel as a choice made due to limited economic resources and time.

In response to the question, “What does ‘special forces’ style show? Do we forget the meaning of traveling in this fast-paced society?” one Zhihu user explained that for many people, their limited time and financial resources prevent them from fully realizing the meaning of traveling: “Taking a vacation means having to make up for missed workdays, and even working hard doesn’t bring in much money. The workload is so heavy that if you can take a break and have some fun, that’s already pretty good. Meaningful travel…that belongs to the wealthy.”

On the other hand, another Zhihu commenter also challenges the idea of “meaningful travel” by claiming that the so-called “meaning” of travel is a subjective experience: “Any experience is a good experience when you’re young, as long as it’s not illegal or dangerous. Why would others want to ruin their excitement?”

“Only you can add meaning to your travels,” another commenter writes: “The ‘special forces travel’ is fresh, and it’s fun (..) Don’t dive in too much on whether it’s meaningful or not. There’s so many different ways of things being meaningful. For many things, it’s just about doing it, and if you like it, then you keep doing it and otherwise you stop. It’s basically what life is all about.”

By Zilan Qian

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Critical Essay: “The Hype Surrounding Zibo BBQ is a Sign of Social Wasteland”

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Zilan Qian is a China-born undergraduate student at Barnard College majoring in Anthropology. She is interested in exploring different cultural phenomena, loves people-watching, and likes loitering in supermarkets and museums.

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Reminded me somehow of the 1964 JP Belmondo movie L’homme de Rio, minus the narcissistic component of today. Or would these youngsters do these trips, this (IMO boring) gamification of travel, if they had no way of bragging about it? An honest question, to a degree, because I seriously don’t care what they do.

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The Benz Guy from Baoding and the Granny Xu Line-Cutting Controversy

While the public initially supported ‘Grandma Xu’ and criticized the Benz driver from Baoding, the narrative took an unexpected turn.

Following the rapid spread of a video capturing a man and woman involved in a road rage incident, Chinese netizens named and shamed them. But when the situation turned out to be different than it seemed, the focus of the story shifted, emphasizing the responsibility of the so-called ‘melon-eating masses’ actively participating in these kind of hyped-up incidents.

A Baoding license plate with the number 冀F8656Z briefly became China’s most talked-about car tag this week following a road rage incident that was captured on camera ( see video ). The incident involved the passenger of a black Mercedez-Benz, who went viral on Chinese social media for smashing the hood of another car at a ferry terminal in Zhanjiang. The altercation was triggered by a dispute over line-cutting.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of January 29 at Zhanjiang’s Xuwen Port, where vehicles were queuing up in the car and coach ticket lane. When a Mercedes-Benz Vito attempted to cut into the line, a white Chery car – with an older woman in the passenger seat – refused to yield. In response, the alleged Mercedes owner (male) and another passenger (female) angrily exited their vehicle and scolded the white car’s driver and passenger, as well as slamming their hood and seemingly causing damage to the car.

Meanwhile, the black Mercedes, apparently driven by a third individual, proceeded to cut in line and eventually drove off after the passengers got back in.

The 71-year-old lady in the white car who recorded the incident, Ms Xu or Granny Xu (徐老太), just so happened to have a relatively large social media following on a Douyin account run by her daughter (五莲徐八月). When she posted the video of the incident online, her 500,000 followers (now 800,000) came into action to name and shame the couple who insulted and intimidated her. As a result, the license plate, clearly visible in the footage, became a top trending search query.

This phenomenon, wherein netizens unite to research and expose information about individuals involved in controversial incidents, is also known as the “Human Flesh Search Engine” (人肉搜索) in Chinese ( read more ).

On January 30, the story started gaining massive attention on Chinese social media and online media sites. What mostly angered people was not just the arrogant and aggressive behavior of the Benz passengers, but also the fact that they acted so rude and entitled toward an elderly lady.

It came out that the aggressive man, the 40-year-old Mr. Wang, is a teacher at Hebei Agricultural University, and people started targeting their anger towards the Agricultural University, the city of Baoding, and even Hebei province as a whole.

The couple triggered China’s meme machine and popped up in various funny edited images.

“Do not cut in line” bumper stickers showing the Benz guy from Baoding.

They even appeared on some online merchandise, namely on bumper stickers warning others not to cut in line.

  Another Point of View  

While the public initially supported ‘Grandma Xu’ and criticized the Benz driver from Baoding, the narrative took an unexpected turn. Because in the midst of this controversy, dashcam footage from the Mercedes Benz also surfaced online, along with other images showing the scene from different angles.

This footage offered an alternative perspective, revealing that the Benz driver was attempting a zipper-style merge into the lane but was intentionally blocked by the white car, with the passenger filming the confrontation.

Later on, the surveillance video from the Xuwen Port was also released ( video ). That 7-minute video showed the entire conflict from the start, and although it showed that the Mercedes driver was at fault for cutting in line and damaging Xu’s car, it also showed that the Chery car was not without fault.

The new information caused a shift in public opinion as people started to think the Ms Xu purposely misrepresented the situation by omitting her role in the traffic altercation. It also became evident that, contrary to initial assumptions, Ms. Xu was not the driver of the white sedan at all; instead, a younger male was behind the wheel.

Bird’s eye view images of Xuwen Port also revealed that in lane 7, where the altercation occurred, all cars eventually merge in a zipper-style pattern.

As a result, both the Benz driver and the elderly lady now faced public condemnation – one for traffic misconduct, the other for distorting the truth on social media.

  The Role of the Melon Eaters  

As online discussions about the entire incident are still unfolding, there’s been a change in what people focus on regarding this story.

Initially, the rude and agressive Benz guy and his female companion, a meme-worthy couple, were the main topic of conversation. Then, as people started realizing the role played by the so-called ‘granny’ influencer – who edited and posted the footage in such a way that made her seem like the mere victim, – they were angry at her.

Ultimately, however, some commentators and bloggers noted that it is actually the so-called ‘melon eating masses’ who are responsible for making this story go viral and choosing sides without knowing all the facts. The Chinese term is chīguā qúnzhòng (吃瓜群众), translated as melon-eating masses or peanut gallery, referring to the netizens who are enjoying the spectacle as it unfolds, sharing details or opinions with limited knowledge.

While the story is still simmering online, the the Xuwen County Public Security Bureau has imposed a 10-day administrative detention and a fine of 500 yuan ($70) on Mr Wang for his actions of smashing the hood of the car. Ms Xu reportedly is getting her car fixed, renewing the entire hood of the dented sedan.

The original video that sparked all the controversy has since been removed from Ms Xu’s Douyin account.

In the end, the story has a negative impact on both Wang and Xu, which will probably haunt them for some time to come. The only one benefiting is the seller of ‘please don’t cut in line’ bumper stickers, which have since become a viral success.

Regardless of all disagreements regarding this incident, there’s one thing virtually everyone agrees with, especially during this busy Chinese New Year travel season: bad traffic etiquette and cutting in line is not cool, and resorting to aggression and vandalism is never the solution.

By Manya Koetse

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China Insight

A Snowball Effect: How Cold Harbin Became the Hottest Place in China

Part of Harbin’s enormous success can be attributed to a snowball effect, but the hype is also the result of a well-coordinated campaign.

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There is one topic that has been dominating Chinese social media recently: Harbin and its remarkable influx of tourists. How can the buzz surrounding this frosty city be explained?

T he new year has just started and Harbin already seems to be the hit of 2024. The capital of China’s Heilongjiang Province, which is famous for its Ice and Snow Festival and Russian heritage, has been dominating trending topics on Chinese social media from late December well into this second week of January.

Every day recently, there’s another hashtag about Harbin that is hitting the hot charts on Chinese social media platforms Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu. Whether it is about Harbin travel, food, or funny memes, there seems to be an endless stream of stories and topics coming from the city in China’s northeast.

The sudden hype surrounding Harbin is similar to that of Zibo in 2023. The Shandong city, known for its local BBQ culture, became all the rage in spring of last year for its joyful atmosphere and post-pandemic celebratory mood.

Is Harbin the ‘Zibo’ of this 2023-2024 winter season? How come the historical city became such a social media phenomenon?

  Harbin’s Hottest Festival  

This year marks the 40th edition of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (哈尔滨国际冰雪节), which is the largest ice and snow festival in the world. The official opening ceremony on January 5th not only celebrated the milestone of the 40th edition but also highlighted Harbin’s role as the host city for the 2025 Asian Winter Games. This will also be the first festival after the end of China’s ‘Zero Covid’ policy (the event was previously still held but kept much smaller).

Harbin winters are tough, with temperatures plummeting to as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) or even colder. The idea for a Harbin ice festival first emerged in the late 1950s, when local officials wanted to cheer up the city and its residents in the dark and gloomy winter days.

They therefore introduced a winter festival centered around the idea of ice lanterns, of which the history goes back to the fisherman on the Songhua River using candles inside frozen blocks to give light on long winter nights. The festival was successful from the start; nearly 250,000 people participated in the 1963 edition (Dewar et al 2001, 524).

First edition of the Snow and Ice Festival in 1963.

After the Cultural Revolution put a halt to the festivities in 1966, local authorities reviewed the festival again in 1984, and revived it as an event to boost the local economy. About a decade later, it had already become one of the biggest of its kind globally, with its ice sculpting competitions and snow sculpture parks, including thousands of ice structures and spectacular lantern venues.

This 2023-2024 season turns out to be another important moment for Harbin and its ice festival. In November of 2023, the city launched a press conference in which they stressed the importance of strengthening the city’s position as an (international) leader in the field of ice and snow tourism in this post-pandemic era and fully focus on turning the season into a “people’s festival” and a “people’s event” (“使冰雪季和冰雪节真正成为人民的节日、百姓的盛会”).

From string quartets to hot air balloons, Harbin is going all out to entertain and impress visitors this year, and all the efforts are paying off.

More than two million people are expected to visit Harbin for this year’s festival, including its ‘Ice and Snow World’ (哈尔滨冰雪大世界) which opened on 18 December and will run until late February. This amusement park is a major attraction within the larger festival, and this 25th edition, with its 810,000-square-meter, is the largest-ever held.

In a time when Chinese domestic travelers are exploring their own country in new ways, from Special Force travel style to show-inspired journeys , the latest buzz surrounding Harbin is something that many simply do not want to miss out on, causing the coldest city to become one of the hottest destinations of the moment.

  Turning Bad Publicity into Something Positive  

On December 18, Harbin officially opened its Ice and Snow World to the public, welcoming thousands of visitors. This is also when the city and its festival first started trending on social media, but not necessarily in a good way.

Visitors initially complained that despite making reservations, they had to wait in lines at the entrance for hours, and that the time slot reservation system (分时预约) – introduced in Covid days – actually made things more difficult rather than facilitating a smoother crowd management process.

People also complained when Ice and Snow World issued a notice that they couldn’t accommodate more than 40,000 people and had already reached their limit during the early afternoon, therefore halting further ticket sales on the 18th. The 40,000 people limit seemed strange to many, who commented that other events and venues across China, such as Shanghai Disneyland, could welcome much more visitors.

People who had been waiting in line for hours starting shouting that they wanted their money back, and that incident went viral online as the “ticket refund incident” (# 哈尔滨退票事件 #, 170 million views on Weibo).

Not only did these incidents generate more public attention for the events taking place in Harbin, Snow World’s response also became a hot topic as they soon issued an apology, swiftly canceled the time slot reservation system, gave ticket refunds, and introduced a ‘first come first served’ system (# 冰雪大世界取消预约制 #, # 哈尔滨冰雪大世界致歉 #, 370 million views).

A side effect of this incident and how it was handled was that a so-called “underdog effect” became visible on social media, where many people started defending Harbin and Snow World. Supporters questioned whether visitors would similarly express frustration while waiting in lines at Disneyland or Universal Studios.

One Weibo blogger (@刘成春) wrote: “ Please do not dismiss Harbin’s Ice and Snow World just because of some minor shortcomings. A group of simple, honest, hardworking people have spent days on end creating these sculptures with ice taken from the Songhua River at temperatures below minus 20. They’ve been making so much efforts, and Harbin just wants to present these works as gifts and the city’s signature to the people (..) Please don’t discredit the only snow and ice landmark of Northeast China .”

After the incident, this sentiment echoed widely on Chinese social media, where many believed in Harbin’s genuine efforts to make its snow and ice season a success, recognizing the sincerity and goodwill of those involved. The idea that Harbin really deserves to shine this season was further strengthened because of videos emerging on social media of previous Covid years, when the smaller festival looked empty and staff still worked hard to try and entertain the few visitors that were there.

  Southern Little Potato Hype  

On New Year’s Eve, videos showing celebrations in Harbin rapidly gained traction online, showing that Harbin was doing everything it could to entertain and create a welcoming atmosphere for its visitors.

Looks like Harbin is ready for 2024. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/VjBF5eQdMH — Manya Koetse (@manyapan) December 31, 2023

These visitors have also become part of the buzz surrounding Harbin this season, mainly the emergence of the so-called “Southern Little Potatoes” (南方小土豆 nánfāng xiǎo tǔdòu ). This term refers to the increasing influx of tourists from China’s warmer southern regions who are making their way to the snow-blanketed north.

The term “Southern Little Potatoes” humorously describes these southern tourists, especially women, who are frequently spotted sporting light-colored down jackets and hats. Their short height, distinct travel attire makes them stand out among the typically taller and darker-dressed locals in northeastern cities, leading to the playful potato comparison by northerners.

One of the ‘Southern Little Potatoes’ memes (via 21jingji.com ).

As “Southern Little Potatoes” became a trending term online, southern tourists also started using it to make fun of themselves and it came to be used to highlight the warm and sometimes funny exchanges between the north and south.

The “Southern Little Potatoes,” who are not used to not used to ice, snow, and extremely cold weather, are also known to get into tricky situations, needing locals to help them out. On January 9, one tourist from the south went viral for stepping out of the train as he quickly wanted to experience licking a metal pole in freezing temperatures. The moment his tongue got stuck, the train staff kindly helped him get unstuck.

Just a short reminder not to lick metal poles in freezing temperatures. Some Chinese southern tourists couldn't resist the urge when visiting the cold north, but of course, these silly "little southern potatoes" (南方小土豆) need help in getting rescued. 😝 #Harbin pic.twitter.com/0bqlMMf3KQ — Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 10, 2024

For locals, these silly southern tourists are a great business opportunity. One street seller started offering a supervised metal pole licking experience: you can lick a small metal pole for 5 yuan ($0.70), a bigger one for 10 ($1.40), and the tallest one for 15 ($2) (photo below).

Metal pole licking experience.

The Southern Little Potato trend has set off the online meme machine, as well as sparked a small local economy. Some Harbin taxi drivers, for example, promote themselves as being designated “little potato drivers” to serve their ‘friends from the south.’ Street sellers selling ‘little potato’ plush toy keychains for 15 yuan became all the hype.

Little Potato merchandise sold in the streets of Harbin (via 21jingji.com ).

You could say that this general trend has also strengthened ties between the north and south. In Chinese, Harbin ( Hā’ěrbīn 哈尔滨) is now affectionately shortened to ‘ Ěrbīn ‘ by visitors and netizens, with the dropping of the ‘Ha’ reflecting a more casual, friendly familiarity with the city.

  A Snowball Effect  

Although part of Harbin’s enormous (online) success can be attributed to a snowball effect that began after December 19/20, with people showing their appreciation for the city and joining the hype, the attention on social media was also a result of a well-coordinated campaign.

As described by Chinese media outlet The Paper ( 澎湃新闻 ), Heilongjiang Province’s Cultural and Tourism Department Party Secretary and Director He Jing (何晶) recently stated in an interview: “This year’s popularity [of Harbin] isn’t accidental; we’ve been preparing for a year.” He explained how, since early 2023, they started focusing on new media and social media strategies to promote Heilongjiang and Harbin in multiple ways.

For this season, Harbin Snow World made sure there were several online influencers and celebrities promoting the festivities, such as Chinese influencers Kiki (陈洁Kiki) and Barbin (Barbin.ili芭比) or Olympic champion speed skaters Fan Kexin (范可新), Zhang Hong (张虹), and Zhang Yuting (张雨婷). There are also various brand collaborations, such as with Tencent and its Game for Peace (和平精英). Local official media channels and big state media accounts also collaborate with Harbin in posting a lot of promotional videos related to festivities.

This year, Harbin also introduced all kinds of activities and venues to increase their appeal. The ice-made terracotta warriors, for example, or the hot pot restaurant housed within an ice structure, where even the tables are sculpted from ice. These are just some of the many ‘must-experience’ attractions in Harbin that have garnered attention on Chinese social media (# 哈尔滨把火锅玩出了本地特色 #).

Harbin has been trending on Chinese social media every single day for two weeks now. It's the Zibo of the 2023-2024 winter season. Among all the things that are hyped, I love the idea of having spicy hotpot within an ice restaurant. Warm tummy, cold face. There's a beer bar, too! pic.twitter.com/9ea9XzXmk8 — Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 11, 2024

There is also a 20-meter high snowman wearing a red hat, that has come to serve as a must-go photo opportunity for visitors. The local tourism ambassador, the Exploring Pinguin (淘学企鹅), with its cute appearance and orange backpack, is also one of those things that further adds to the appeal of Harbin and its Snow World.

Local authorities, including the tourism department, also pulled out all the stops to ensure visitors felt welcome and accommodated. They made sure local hotels and other business maintained fair prices despite the surge in tourists and to increase the focus on customer service.

They also made sure to listen to (online) feedback and quickly act on complaints. For example, after so many tourists from the south arrived at Harbin Airport and had to change into warmer clothing in the chilly central hall, they increased the number of airport dressing rooms, equipped with seats, mirrors, and carpets. This kind of attention to detail and drive to serve visitors is a strategy that has greatly contributed to Harbin’s current success.

You now see that the combined efforts of local authorities and businesses in Harbin, both online and offline, have cultivated a unique festive atmosphere. This atmosphere is contagious; it motivates locals to actively contribute to maintain the standards while also encouraging visitors to actively promote the city. This leads to new groups of visitors getting enthusiastic to travel to Harbin.

While this success is partly orchestrated, with authorities and state media being key players, there is also that ‘special something’ — a kind of genuine charm, sincerity, relatability, and likability — which is much harder to schedule through strategies. It’s an organic ingredient that is a major part of the buzz. In this way, Zibo and Harbin are very much alike.

Despite some criticisms about prioritizing short-term fame and social media hype for Chinese tourist destinations, it seems that Harbin’s success will be long lasting. As some social media users say: “I can’t make it this year, but I definitely will go to Harbin for the next season. I’ve never even seen snow in my life.”

By Manya Koetse , with contributions by Ruixin Zhang and Miranda Barnes

Dewar, Keith, Denny Meyer, and Wen Mei Li. 2001. “Harbin, Lanterns of Ice, Sculptures of Snow.” Tourism Management 22 (5): 523-532.

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Young people in China call themselves ‘special forces’ of budget travel

HONG KONG — A steady stream of young Chinese tourists stops by a seaside cafe in Hong Kong’s Kennedy Town to take pictures of the harbor — but only for a moment.

Many are on a city walk recommended on the short video app Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, as a way to rush between picture-ready — and free — destinations among the soaring skyscrapers and lush mountainsides of the otherwise pricey Asian financial hub.

The young people who are trying to get as much bang for their buck while on holiday during these difficult economic times have come to be known as “special forces” travelers because they push themselves to the limit with packed itineraries and extreme cost-cutting.

As China’s economy slows, the buck stops with leader Xi Jinping

Budget-conscious travel is all the rage for Chinese tourists taking advantage of the long holiday that begins on Friday with the Mid-Autumn Festival and runs into National Day commemorations.

This week, Chinese workers get eight consecutive days of leave — think summer holidays in Europe or the United States — and it is being watched closely by analysts to see whether consumers are spending again and if the world’s second-largest economy is shaking off its post-pandemic malaise .

Nine months after Beijing suddenly abandoned its strict “zero covid” policies, Chinese tourists are gradually returning. But lingering concerns about a slowing economy mean they are more likely to spend less and pick destinations closer to home, analysts said.

Lavish spending by Chinese travelers has long been a driving force for international tourism. The country’s newly minted middle class has led the world in outbound travel since 2012, and sales of designer handbags, luxury watches and other high-end goods have been propped up by China’s uber-rich on overseas shopping sprees.

That kind of holiday is a long way from Lynn Chen’s mind. The 25-year-old engineer, who works in Beijing, decided to get a jump-start on her vacation to save money and came to Hong Kong ahead of the main travel rush. She is shunning the city’s ticketed tourist destinations in favor of a few days walking about, soaking up the atmosphere.

Even if the economy is in rough shape, Chen and her friends still think it’s better to get out and spend — just to be more cautious when they do so. If she goes anywhere next week, it will be within mainland China, and she’ll probably stay with friends.

“My elders tell me that because the current economic situation is not good you should save and not spend money randomly,” she said. “But my friends or colleagues conversely say that the pandemic has made them want to enjoy life more.”

Chinese state media has touted record numbers of high-speed rail bookings as evidence that the recovery is on track. What’s less clear is whether these tourists will spend as much on their trips as they did before the pandemic.

During China’s last major public holiday in May, more trips were taken by travelers than in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, but individuals spent less on average, according to official data.

And uncertainty over China’s economic outlook is leading experienced travelers to put off trips abroad, with almost 40 percent of them saying they plan to wait two years before going overseas again, a recent survey by Oliver Wyman, the management consulting firm, found.

“While the Chinese travelers are returning, it [has taken] longer than we expected when the border reopened,” Imke Wouters, a partner at Oliver Wyman who led the research, said in the report.

“Traveling domestically is much more of a budget option,” and lower consumer confidence is pushing Gen-Z travelers toward spending on experiences like camping, road trips and hiking instead of big ticket items, said Allison Malmsten, an analyst from market research firm Daxue Consulting.

Chinese college grads are ‘zombie-style’ on campus. Here’s why.

Many in the international tourism industry had hoped that the end of the pandemic would unleash a wave of pent-up “revenge spending” from Chinese travelers unable to go overseas during nearly three years of strict coronavirus border controls.

But this year’s anticipated rebound has been weaker than many expected — and heavily weighted toward travel within China.

Another survey released this month by market research firm Mintel found that domestic tourism is back as a top priority for Chinese consumers but warned that “large-scale spending increases are still unlikely, as saving is more of a priority given the various uncertainties consumers are facing.”

To take advantage of the moment, the report’s authors advised, businesses need to provide “instant relaxation or indulgence with small-ticket spending.”

While seeing the world on a budget isn’t new, the desire to have fun while still saving has led to an apparent spike in the popularity of shoestring travel, especially among younger Chinese tourists.

The troops of “special forces” travelers are mostly college students and young professionals who take pride in going to extreme lengths to hunt down bargains and cram their limited vacation time with as many social-media worthy stops as possible — even if that comes at the expense of personal comfort.

How China’s ‘broke ghosts’ are keeping up appearances during straitened times

They scour Xiaohongshu, China’s go-to platform for travel tips, for unconventional but picturesque — and, most importantly, cheap — places to visit.

They shun expensive shopping malls and sleep in internet cafes or in cars, prefer a free city walk to a paid tour, and might opt to visit a museum or other site virtually instead of paying for real-life entry.

Rex Gu, a 27-year-old native of Nantong in eastern China, was visiting Hong Kong this week and considers himself a travel commando.

After months of searching for cheap tickets and accommodation, his trip has been a whirlwind of stops in several Southeast Asian countries before visiting Hong Kong for three days. Next week, during the busiest period, he plans to hit up the famous West Lake of Hangzhou city, which isn’t far from his hometown — and is free to visit.

The approach isn’t for everyone, Gu said, but he personally finds it fulfilling. “Although I am in a hurry, I feel that’s okay. Your body is very tired when you walk, but you are not tired inside.”

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China's domestic travel recovery marred by anti-spending 'special forces'

May 17, 2023 — 07:00 pm EDT

Written by Casey Hall for Reuters  ->

By Casey Hall

SHANGHAI, May 18 (Reuters) - When graduate student Cai Zhishan decided to spend her Labour Day holidays in northern China , she wished she had enough money to hire a car for the more-than 4,000km (2,500 mile) round trip - the equivalent of driving from New York to Los Angeles.

Instead, she chose "travelling like special forces," a new trend in China that has emerged as a symptom of the underlying weakness in household consumption, and which is casting a shadow over a post-pandemic recovery in domestic tourism.

Cai, 22, mostly took slow trains and buses as she made her way from the city of Hangzhou where she studies, around the northern Shanxi province, and back.

To get to the ancient temples, pagodas and grottoes she wanted to visit, she walked roughly 30,000 steps a day. For accommodation, she chose overnight trains and cheap hostel beds.

Over nine days, she spent just 2,500 yuan ($362).

"I don't have much money, but I like to travel," Cai said. "I can control the expenses, to go to many places for the least amount of money, but it is really tiring."

On social media, the hashtag “special forces travel” - which refers to an aggressive assault on a tourist area to see and do as much as possible for as little money one can spend - went viral before and during the Labour Day break starting in late April.

Cai was inspired by the online discussions, like many other Chinese travellers who surprised with their thriftiness.

Ministry of Culture and Tourism data showed a boom in domestic travel this year, as many Chinese made up for the three years of COVID-19 restrictions that kept them largely stuck at home.

During the May holiday break, which for most Chinese covered the April 28-May 3 period, 274 million trips were made, up 19% from 2019 before the pandemic.

But total spending was 148 billion yuan ($21 billion), on par with 2019, meaning travellers spent an average of 540 yuan in 2023 versus 603 yuan in 2019.

In another sign of tight pockets, international trips by Chinese tourists this year remain a fraction of pre-pandemic levels.

"Chinese overall are not ready to spend as much as before and, even if the government tries ... to entice consumption and reduce excess savings, I doubt it will manage," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis Research.

"People need jobs and higher wages to start spending big again."

Domestic consumption, which Chinese policymakers want to play a greater role in powering the world's second-largest economy, has recovered since COVID restrictions were lifted in December, but has consistently underwhelmed so far this year.

China's struggling property market , record high youth unemployment and broader worries over job stability, as well as government parsimony on wages , pensions and medical benefits are keeping consumers cautious, analysts say.

Data on Tuesday showed retail sales up 18.4% in April from last year, when Shanghai was under lockdown, undershooting expectations of a 21.0% rise. Consumer confidence has bounced from last year's record lows, but remains below the range of the previous two decades.

One travel blogger, who posts on the Instagram-like social media app Xiaohongshu under the name of Icecube, told Reuters he slept overnight in a public toilet to save money on a trip to Huangshan mountain in the southern Anhui province.

"It's worth it," said the blogger, who declined to give his real name.

"Although I suffered a little, I spent the least money possible to see beautiful scenery. In the future, I may consider adding a little to the budget to improve accommodation conditions."

For those betting on consumption gathering speed as the year progresses, maybe not all is lost.

Beijinger Xing Zicong, 23, tried to visit the historical silk road city of Xi'an on a shoestring, but found it too uncomfortable and ended up spending more money than planned.

"Maybe I didn't wear the right shoes, but my feet started to hurt after walking more than 10,000 steps," she said, joking that she exemplified "the battle-scarred version of special forces travel."

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Casey Hall and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Lincoln Feast.)

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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“What do you think of special forces tourism”: Trending hashtag on Chinese social media

• April 28, 2023
• Social media in China , tourism , travel industry

Due to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions since last December, China has seen a rebound in tourism, expecting an  80%  increase in domestic trips this year compared to last year. Amid this speedy tourism recovery, there has been a rising travel trend called “special forces tourism (特种兵式旅游)”, which refers to ticking off as many tourist spots, using as little time and money, as possible. This kind of travel style is particularly popular among young people in China, especially college students who are usually on a tight budget but are willing to take intensive trips.

How Chinese netizens view “special forces tourism”: insights from Weibo

On Chinese social media Weibo, many netizens have joined the conversation in terms of  #What do you think of special forces tourism (你如何看待特种兵式旅游)# , viewed 3.75 million times within two days in the last week of April. “(You get to) broaden the horizon and learn the importance of having money so you can enjoy life more after graduation.” One netizen said. Another netizen stressed China’s highly developed transportation’s critical role in this trend: “This would be impossible to achieve if not for the convenience of transportation.”

In fact, “special forces tourism” has become so viral that new business opportunities have emerged from it. Some young people, usually from popular tourist cities, have become “local travel partners (当地陪玩)”, charging around 150 to 300 RMB per day or 15 to 25 RMB per hour on Goofish (闲鱼), China’s largest second-hand e-commerce platform. Although this kind of deal is currently mainly trust-based, as regulations on the industry are still unclear, some netizens are quite supportive of this new occupation. “This kind of job is nice. You get to make money and have fun too.” A netizen from Liaoning commented.

Key takeaways:

• China has seen a rebound in tourism due to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
• There has been a rising travel trend called “special forces tourism” which refers to visiting as many tourist spots as possible using as little time and money.
• This trend is particularly popular among young people in China and has even created new business opportunities such as “local travel partners” who charge for their services on Goofish, China’s largest second-hand e-commerce platform.

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Many tourists come to Nanjing Xuanwu Lake Park, East China's Jiangsu Province, to enjoy the beautiful flowers cascading down from high places on April 15, 2023.Photo: IC

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"Special Forces" style tourism booms during ethnic holiday season

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2023-04-27 21:32:17

A gourmet competition was held in Dahua Yao Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on April 15, 2023, to mark the traditional Sanyuesan festival, which falls on the third day of the third month on the lunar calendar. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

NANNING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Making stops at multiple attractions in quick succession and enjoying foods from street stalls and eateries in a hurried fashion before scurrying to the next instagrammable location, it is dubbed "Special Forces Style Travel" by Chinese netizens, a hip way among young people in China to make the best out of short holiday breaks.

The trend was particularly prominent this month during "Sanyuesan", a traditional festival celebrated by many ethnic groups across China, and was especially noteworthy in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A phrase prefixed with "Guangxi Sanyuesan" became a trending topic on the Chinese social media site Weibo, with over 56 million reads.

"Sanyuesan" was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in Guangxi in 2014. The region, which is home to the majority of the Zhuang ethnic group, was granted an official two-day holiday starting on March 3rd of the lunar calendar each year in honor of the occasion, which is rich both in rituals and traditions.

However, this year's "Sanyuesan" fell on April 22, a Saturday, hence a three-day weekend.

Railway stations in Nanning, the capital city of the region, sent out over 1.58 million passenger trips during "Sanyuesan," a whopping 883.1 percent increase from the comparable period last year.

Lu Yuan, a local university employee, was among the armies of outbound "special forces" who seized the long weekend and decided to get away.

She hopped on a bullet train in Nanning in the early morning of April 21 and arrived at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station roughly four hours later.

"I caught some sleep on the train, so I was pumped up for the rest of the day," Lu said.

She and her friend did a quick yet comprehensive tour of the city, visited some of the iconic local attractions on the day they arrived, and spent the second day at Disneyland. Before catching the train home on the third day, they also did some shopping and enjoyed a hearty lunch at a famous local cafe.

"Places like Hong Kong are desirable destinations for this type of hasty tourism because they are dotted with photo-worthy places, and the whole city is an amazing food court," Lu added.

Between April 21 and 23, tourism hotspots in Guangxi were bustling with people amid the region-wide jubilation of "Sanyuesan" as train tickets from Nanning to Guilin, Beihai, and Liuzhou were sold out days in advance.

The influx of tourists who sought to indulge in the authentic Guangxi experience is a welcome sign of a tourism rebound, with the number of orders placed during "Sanyuesan" exceeding that of 2019, according to data provided by Meituan, a life service platform.

Chen Zusheng, an engineer from the neighboring Guangdong Province, took a two-day paid leave and became an inbound "special forces" traveler in his home province of Guangxi. During his trip, he had a little get-together with his college softball team and played some friendly matches with several local teams.

"It's a rare occasion where I can re-connect with some friends from the old days and pay a visit to some places for old-time sake," Chen said.

Chen also promised his local teammates a reunion during the next "Sanyuesan."

"It's a short break of unique significance for Guangxi," Chen said. "If the holiday lasted over five days, most people would choose to travel outside the region, and our reunion would not have happened."

Chen would later switch on his hardcore foodie mode and go to Liuzhou, the hometown of Luosifen, the stinky snail noodle, by train before returning to Guangdong.

This year, Nanning, Liuzhou, and Guilin ranked among the top three most-visited cities in the region during "Sanyuesan", according to the local tourism authorities, with Liuzhou seeing a 105.1 percent year-on-year increase in the number of tourists and a sharp rise of 121.5 percent in revenue from a year earlier.

The coastal city of Beihai enjoyed staggering 335.1 percent and 289.4 percent increases in the number of visitors and revenue generated respectively, compared to the same period last year.  ■

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‘Citywalk’ trend offers relaxed alternative to Special Forces tourism

• Post date June 5, 2023
• By Miranda Jarrett

This year’s May Day holiday saw many young Chinese walk 30,000 steps a day in an attempt to maximise the short holiday. But as this hardcore travel style, called ‘ Special Forces’ tourism , was taking off, an alternative trend has been gaining steam – “Citywalk”.

Unlike Special Forces tourism, where the aim is to hit as many famous spots as possible in the shortest amount of time, Citywalk is more about soaking up the atmosphere of the city. By “roaming” on foot, Citywalkers get away from internet famous hotspots and commercial hubs, instead seeking out interactions with locals, authentic snacks, and a deeper appreciation for the history and culture of the city.

Young Chinese embrace “Special Forces” style tourism during May Day holiday

In some cases, Citywalk is much like a food tour, with walkers carefully planning out routes with certain snack spots in mind. Seasoned Citywalkers have hopped on the trend to share their own recommended routes and snack spots via social media, quickly racking up thousands of new subscribers over the past month. The addition of the group chat function to Xiaohongshu (launched in February) means Citywalk fans can chat with an influencer/expert in their city and easily connect with other new Citywalk fans.

On Gen Z trend bible Xiaohongshu, hashtags “Citywalk” and “Day off Citywalk” have 14.2 million and 411.5 million views respectively. An official page dedicated to the trend called “Strolling the Street to Eat Delicious Food” can also be found when searching for Citywalk on the platform. The H5 page recommends snack spots on backstreets in Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Tianjin, Changsha, Guiyang and more.

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Whilst Citywalk can work as an approach to tourism, most of the trend’s enthusiasts are keen to reconnect with the city they live in . This post-reopening trend sees Gen Z seek pleasure more through connection than consumption and signifies a deep cultural curiosity that goes beyond the Chinese iconography that typifies guochao .

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Clocking two sleepless nights and 30,000 daily steps to cover more than ten locations in a single day — if one had no idea, this travel itinerary could easily be mistaken as some sort of special forces training.

The term “special forces travellers” (旅游特种兵) has gone viral on China’s social media, referring to a travel style recently popular among young people whereby they try to spend the least amount of money to cover the most locations in the shortest time possible, challenging their physical limits like special forces troops.

Why are young people in China choosing to travel in this manner? Are they just following the crowd, or are there other reasons behind it?

'Military-style' tourism

On 24 March, a female student studying in Anhui province went to Beijing to meet her friend, and in just two days over the weekend, they managed to visit tourist attractions such as Nanluoguxiang, Drum Tower, Forbidden City, Yonghe Temple, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Beihai Park and Temple of Heaven. To save time and money, the female student spent the night on the train on Friday, and the pair stayed up all night on Saturday to wait for the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square.

Images of the female student’s travel itinerary drew the attention of netizens on Douyin. Netizens in Beijing said that they themselves had never been to so many places, and one even commented that “this is not tourism, it’s an ironman triathlon”.

... young people have shared on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu their experiences of sleeping in restaurants including Hai Di Lao and McDonald’s...

There are many other young people like the female student, who go to the extreme in saving time and money. The astonishing itineraries and budgets they post online has earned them the moniker of “special forces travellers”.

These “special forces” have many solutions to tackle the major cost of accommodation. Late last month, a woman touring Shenzhen wrote a post claiming that she stayed overnight in a private room for free at a Hai Di Lao hotpot restaurant. Many netizens questioned if she was abusing the restaurant’s services, but in fact, young people have shared on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu their experiences of sleeping in restaurants including Hai Di Lao and McDonald’s, while some also choose to spend the night in places like cheap bathhouses and internet cafes.

Some young travellers also choose to spend the night on the train, even selecting the cheapest hard seats instead of a sleeper berth. A netizen shared a scene on a night train from Zhengzhou to Xi’an, where almost all the passengers were college students on a weekend getaway.

Special forces travel has become a widespread phenomenon among young people in China. According to data from ly.com, during the recent Qingming Festival holiday, 62% of post-2000s generation travellers took overnight transportation to reach their destination, while 30% of this group visited more than four tourist spots in a single day. The most popular destinations are cities with a relatively high concentration of tourist attractions and convenient public transportation, such as Beijing, Chongqing, Changsha, Shanghai and Nanjing.

"I don’t get what these people are playing at, do they just want a photo at the entrance?” — Chinese netizen

Superficial experience or a good use of time?

Netizens have mixed views on these special forces travellers. Some criticise such superficial travel as pointless. “If you’re serious about it, the Palace Museum alone would take a few days. I don’t get what these people are playing at, do they just want a photo at the entrance?” 

Others note that after the “special forces” trend came up, human traffic at scenic spots and on transportation has significantly increased, affecting the travel experience of other tourists, while those who spend the night in restaurants and stations also leave a bad impression. Some are worried about these travellers’ health: “Climbing Mount Tai after two sleepless days, what if something happens?”

However, some netizens believe that people shouldn’t be too harsh on how young people choose to travel. “Youths are meant to spread their wings. What’s wrong with going on a trip of a lifetime?” 

“... my friend and I didn’t feel tired, because the joy of going out and seeing the world conquered the fatigue.”

The female student mentioned above who went to Beijing refuted the criticism of her superficial tourism in an interview with Ran News. She said, “Although the trip was rushed, we did a lot of research and took in the significance of each attraction. Many people say that ‘special forces-style’ travel is too tiring, but my friend and I didn’t feel tired, because the joy of going out and seeing the world conquered the fatigue.”

In response, some places have even launched travel packages to meet the needs of these young people. Shandong province has launched a Qilu high-speed rail tour package at 399 RMB (US$58), including routes connecting many scenic spots such as Baotu Spring, Mount Tai, Confucius Temple in Qufu, and the beaches in Qingdao.

Zibo city, which has recently become popular on social media for its barbecue food, launched a dedicated high-speed train for tourists to travel from Jinan to Zibo in as little as 40 minutes, to taste the city’s specialty barbecue.

A need to see the world?

Youths travelling on a tight budget is commonplace, while affordable tours with packed itineraries are also a norm in the tourism industry. But special forces travel only became popular recently, for a variety of reasons.

... a trip that was supposed to be a memorable experience turned into a mission that must be completed in the shortest time, and even a form of social capital that could boost one’s image.

Nowadays, Chinese youths heavily depend on social media for travel-related information, with bucket list destinations and food places garnering attention on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Many people only visit these places after looking at the photographs of others. They would take their own snaps and share them online, driving more people to do the same.

In this process, the emphasis is inevitably placed on “putting on a show” instead of truly “experiencing the journey”. Hence, a trip that was supposed to be a memorable experience turned into a mission that must be completed in the shortest time, and even a form of social capital that could boost one’s image.

However, not all special forces travellers are superficial, as the need to travel is real and far greater than ever before. During the three-year-long Covid-19 pandemic, China adopted prolonged stringent anti-Covid measures, with lockdowns and mass testing severely affecting people’s movement, especially the younger generation who are passionate about seeing the world.

However, the reality is cruel — the world is big but their wallet is empty.

As a saying on the Chinese internet goes, “The pandemic took away three of the four years of university.” During lockdowns, students couldn’t even leave the school, let alone go for a trip. Thus, after the pandemic ended, youths were the most desperate to go on revenge trips to make up for their “lost youth”.

On a tight budget

However, the reality is cruel — the world is big but their wallet is empty. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China’s consumer appetite for spending has weakened and more people are choosing to save rather than spend. Data released by the People’s Bank of China showed that China’s new RMB deposits in 2022 totalled 26.26 trillion RMB, an increase of 6.59 trillion RMB year-on-year.

The China Youth Daily reported that in 2021, a survey of 20,000 respondents showed that young people aged 18 to 34 are paying more attention to their retirement pension savings, with savings rates reaching a record high since 2018. Among them, 76% of youths said they were doing so to increase their emergency savings.

While it is normal for youths to travel on a tight budget, Chinese youths have additional time pressure when compared with their peers in developed countries who can use a gap year to do the same. Graduates in China are busy job hunting while undergraduates are taking examinations or finding internships during their school breaks.

Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that in February this year, the surveyed urban unemployment rate reached 5.6%, among which unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 reached 18.1%. China’s Ministry of Education said that a record  11.58 million students in China are expected to graduate from higher education institutions this year, an increase of 820,000 year-on-year.

Director of the China Institute for Employment Research Zeng Xiangquan told Caijing magazine that the issue with the supply and demand structure of the job market has not been resolved. In addition, students who delayed employment or failed to enter graduate school in 2022 or even 2021 are also set to enter the workforce, meaning that the employment pressure on Chinese college students will remain high this year.

Caught between ideals and reality

Chinese youths have a strong desire to travel but generally lack time and money. Therefore, it is unsurprising to see them pushing the limits to become special forces travellers, which reflects their yearning to find some harmony between ideals and reality. Refusing to give up on travelling and seeing the world, they are forced to spend every penny wisely.

This phenomenon also reflects the state of Chinese society after the pandemic — under immense economic pressure, even if people have become more willing to spend, their spending power may still be lagging behind. Will this lead to changes in various other sectors, besides tourism? This is something to observe in the near future.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国年轻人为何要当“旅游特种兵”？” .

Related: More Chinese youths visiting temples to seek solace | Solving China’s soaring youth unemployment | China’s youths are feeling the pressure from low wages | Why Chinese youths are not spending | Depression among China's college students reveals anxieties about jobs and Covid

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Frugal college students embrace 'military-style' travel

By ZOU SHUO | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2023-05-13 07:04

"Military-style" travel has become the latest fashion among Chinese college students, who spend as little much money as possible to travel to as many places as they can during the weekend, rarely taking a break or even sleeping.

To save money, they usually hop on a normal-speed train on a Friday night, arrive at the destination city on Saturday morning, travel extensively in the city, sleep at a 24-hour restaurant for a few hours on Saturday, then repeat the same busy schedule on Sunday before returning to their university in time for classes on Monday morning.

Videos of them taking such trips have been trending on social media platforms, with many netizens praising them for their vitality, energy and high ability to implement their plans. Others, however, question whether such a busy schedule is healthy.

Hu Die, a senior undergraduate student at Inner Mongolia University of Technology, is one such traveler. She put together a 10-day holiday during the recent May Day holiday period and traveled to six cities.

On April 26, she took a high-speed train from Hohhot to Beijing and then from Beijing to Tai'an, Shandong province, to climb Mount Tai.

To save money, she climbed the mountain rather than using a cable car. It took her about four hours to arrive at the top of the mountain and, after watching the beautiful sunrise from the mountaintop on April 27, she went down to visit Dai Temple at the foot of the mountain.

She then went to Jinan, the capital of Shandong, in the afternoon, visited Daming Lake and Quancheng Square in the evening, and on the morning of April 28 went to Baotu Spring and Heihu Spring.

She traveled to Zibo afterward and, after eating the famous barbecue in the city, went to Yantai and Weihai before May 4, when she arrived in Luoyang, Henan province. There, she visited the Longmen Grottoes and then returned to her campus on May 5.

"We do not think we are doing something 'crazy' or 'incredible'. We are young and energetic enough to experience such a tight travel schedule," she said. "Moreover, when you travel with your friends, you are happy, and after the adrenaline kicks in, you do not feel tired."

According to Professor Li Bin at the School of Tourism Science at Beijing International Studies University, the trend of "military-style" travel is essentially a form of budget travel that appeals to specific groups of people.

Li said that for many university students or recent graduates with limited budgets and time constraints, the desire to explore the world and travel independently is a fundamental motivation.

These young travelers are less concerned with in-depth experiences and more focused on checking off popular tourist destinations on their itineraries. This has led to the emergence of a type of tourism where travelers are willing to sacrifice comfort and luxury for affordability and convenience.

Twenty-year-old Luo Junyi, a second-year undergraduate student in Shanghai, took one of these busy trips from Shanghai to Nanjing. On April 1, a Saturday, she and one of her classmates took a train at 5 am in Shanghai and arrived in Nanjing at 8 am.

They went to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum and Meiling Palace in the morning, then visited Nanjing Museum in the afternoon and Fuzi (Confucius) Temple and Laomendong historic block in the evening. Then they took a 1 am train on Sunday and arrived in Shanghai at 5 am to avoid hotel expenses in Nanjing.

"We are in such a hurry because we want to visit as many historical sites as possible, and we do not want to spend much money," Luo said. "We are eager to travel, as the COVID-19 epidemic in the past three years made travel very inconvenient.

"In the age of social media, you can see many posts of college students traveling on weekends, so you are motivated to also try it yourself," Luo said, adding that most college students choose the cheapest route.

She said she only spent around 400 yuan ($58) during her trip to Nanjing.

Luo said she also plans to travel during upcoming weekends and holidays to Yangzhou, to Nanjing a second time, and to Beijing.

With eyes on China, US special operators are back to battling the jungle

• US special operators are shifting focus to jungle warfare as the potential for conflict with China grows.
• Marine Raiders recently completed a jungle warfare course in Hawaii showing the requirements of jungle operations.
• Decades of desert ops have dulled jungle warfare skills, requiring more specialized training in this environment.

After spending more than 20 years fighting in the wars in the Middle East, US special operators are pivoting to other environments. With the potential for a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific looming ever larger in the background, the US special operations community is focusing more and more on jungle operations.

A relatively recent exercise involving Marine Raiders highlighted the challenges and unique requirements of jungle warfare.

From the desert to the jungle

Last summer, a small team of Marine Raiders completed a jungle warfare course that addresses the challenges US forces might encounter in an Indo-Pacific conflict.

Taught by special operations and law enforcement veterans at the Tactical Tracking Operations School , the course began in 2015 but really took off in 2021. The two-week course takes place on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and is designed to take small special operations teams and teach them the necessary skills to survive and thrive in jungle operations.

The Marine Raiders trained in jungle mobility skills, such as navigating thick brush, scaling and rappelling cliffs, and traversing rivers, counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) techniques, reaction to contact, and ambushes. Throughout the course, the special operators either tracked an adversary or prevented them from tracking the team.

"Looking at the Pacific and deployments in that region, learning these skills is essential," a Marine Raider said in a press release . "For so long we trained for desert environments and now we have to look at where we could be needed next, and the jungle is top of that list."

The course ends with a final exercise that lasts up to three days and tests all the skillsets taught. After a simulated ambush, the students must regroup and hunt down the adversary using their tracking skills.

Related stories

Two decades of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria largely dulled the jungle warfare capabilities of many units. Jungle warfare presents a whole different level of difficulty and requires specialized training to operate effectively.

"These same problems that we have now: low visibility, difficulty for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, broken communications, and logistical issues, they all existed for troops during WWII and Vietnam," Cody Carroll, the vice president of the school, said. "We didn't need to reinvent the wheel, just build the skills that we stopped training because we spent 20 years in the desert."

For example, movement in the jungle is much more restricted and visibility is often limited to just a few yards. Moreover, there are many small and large animals that can ruin someone's day, necessitating the right survival training. Tracking is another important part of jungle operations. With so much foliage, it's easy for an untrained unit to leave evidence of its direction in the jungle.

"I've been through this training with two teams now and both experiences were beneficial to everyone on the team," a Critical Skills Operator, or CSO, said. "I really think every company that can deploy to a jungle environment should come do this training. It's invaluable."

A history of jungle operations

US commandos have a long history of conducting jungle operations.

During World War II, US special operations units like the Alamo Scouts and the Marine Raiders fought the Japanese in the jungles of southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Then, during the Vietnam War, special operators serving in the secretive Military Assistance Command Vietnam-Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) fought a classified war against the North Vietnamese and Vietcong in Laos and Cambodia.

Although the White House had assured the American public that no US troops were on the ground in the two countries that border Vietnam, the Pentagon understood that to stem the flow of weapons and insurgents in South Vietnam, it had to fight the enemy where it hurt.

Small teams of Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Force Recon Marines, and Air Commandos conducted some of the most impressive missions in US special operations history.

Today, as the US attempts to redirect its focus to the Indo-Pacific amid steadily rising tensions between the US and China, it looks like jungle operations are back on the menu for the US special operations community.

Watch: As the US prepares for potential conflict with China, this is how the Army is training for jungle warfare

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San Francisco Giants

San francisco giants | look good, play well sf giants hope so with new dress code on the road, giants players will be required to wear a minimum of a collared shirt and jeans on the road.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When the Giants board their charter flight back to Bay Area following Saturday’s spring finale, the team will look a little different than the past four years under manager Gabe Kapler.

We’re not talking about the additions of Blake Snell, Matt Chapman or Jorge Soler. In addition to the $300 million-plus in free agents brought in this offseason, the Giants are reinstating a dress code for travel days that had been absent in the ultra-lax clubhouse run by Kapler.

Athleisure is out. Professionalism is in.

Suits aren’t a requirement, but sweats won’t be permitted, either.

“We’re not bankers. We don’t have to wear suits,” said manager Bob Melvin, whose look of choice has long been a dress shirt and slacks. “But when we come off the plane and check in to a nice hotel, sweatsuits I don’t think are something I’d like to see.”

The shakeup carries a similar motive to other changes implemented by Melvin this spring, such as lining up on the field for the national anthem to reflect their readiness for first pitch. But this one the manager didn’t have his hand in. Veteran players held a meeting to set the team’s sartorial standard.

“We’re a big-league team. We should look professional all the time,” said Wilmer Flores, one player who never let his fashion sense lapse. “It’s not new for me. I always dress nice.”

“I think it’s good to have some rules and some guidelines,” added outfielder Michael Conforto, who was more surprised by the lack of them regarding attire on travel days after signing with San Francisco before last season. “I have all these custom suits. I hadn’t been able to wear them.”

Coming up with the Mets, Flores said the standard was still a full suit and tie whenever they were on the road. As a new generation has replaced the old guard, the game has become more welcoming — and that includes to fashion choices, or a lack thereof.

By the time Conforto’s tenure in New York was up, the rules had been relaxed to dress shirts and jeans. But, he said, there were still rules.

“It’s pretty common around the league to have something that the team does when they travel,” said Conforto, who opted for a checkered gray sport coat. “Maybe there was just a little bit of a lack of uniformity. But at the end of the day, I think our downfalls last year were on the field. Whether or not you can draw lines from certain things that we weren’t doing off the field, I think it really just goes back to preparation and a lack of execution.”

Just ask Flores, whose work ethic draws as much attention from his peers as his high style. His clothing of choice for the flight home from Arizona was a custom-made, hooded gray blazer, paired with skinny black jeans and black boots.

“To play good, it starts off the field,” he said. “How you behave yourself off the field, what you do when you’re not playing. I mean, we get paid, we should have a professional look.”

The fashionable Flores is happy for any excuse to dig through his closet.

“I don’t go to weddings anymore,” he said. “I have a lot of clothes that I want to wear. During the season, if I don’t wear it, when am I going to wear it? I think it’s nice. I like it.”

Asked which of his teammates for whom it will be the biggest adjustment, Flores surveyed the room. He couldn’t name just one. “A lot of guys,” he chuckled.

This year, the message espoused by Melvin at their first team meeting of camp surrounded personal accountability.

There were three basic rules: Be on time, play hard and be accountable. Players took that to its natural next step, sprucing up their style away from the field.

“It’s pretty simple,” Conforto said. “There’s not a lot of rules, just some pretty clear rules.

“The dress code stuff, we’ll police that on our own. Being on time is across the board, for meetings, for anthems, for bus times. … The veteran guys in here, we’ll make sure everyone’s doing what they need to be doing and we’ll get on each other if the veteran guys aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”

Two more pitchers cut

Right-handers Spencer Howard and Blayne Enlow were each reassigned to the minor leagues Saturday morning, bringing the number of players the Giants will take north with them for their three exhibitions against the A’s and Triple-A River Cats to 41.

Howard and Enlow were both competing for the final spot in the starting rotation or a bulk role in the bullpen, but the moves put Mason Black, Daulton Jefferies and Landen Roupp in position to potentially seize those jobs.

Howard, 27, started four games with 1.87 ERA, eight strikeouts, five walks and a hit batter. Enlow, 25, made four appearances in relief and one start, tossing three shutout innings against a Dodgers lineup that featured Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. He ended spring with a 3.27 ERA, 12 strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters in 11 innings.

“Spencer’s going to be that next wave for us as far as the starters go,” Melvin said. “Enlow’s really been fantastic. When you look at the needs early in the season, really at anytime, you’re going to need guys who can pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen. He’s done that really well for us.”

— C Joey Bart (hamstring) could be back in the lineup Sunday in Sacramento after exiting Friday’s split-squad road game after one at-bat with a tight right hamstring. “I think it was more of a cramp to tell you the truth,” Melvin said. “When I spoke to him this morning, it was like he felt a little dehydrated yesterday.”

— Likewise, OF Austin Slater (elbow) is also tentatively scheduled to return to the lineup Sunday. Experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow, Slater was supposed to DH on Friday but was scratched. He has taken only 12 at-bats this spring and played only two games in the field.

— Set to make his first intrasquad start Sunday, LHP Blake Snell will have at least one more in front of him before the Giants can pencil him into their rotation, Melvin said. If it comes on regular four days’ rest, that would line up Snell to potentially make his first start April 3, the finale of their three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

— RHP Jordan Hicks will start Sunday against the River Cats. The Giants have not announced their pitching plans for their two Bay Bridge exhibitions.

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