Chinese travelers crave experiences over mere scenery

On a crisp autumn evening, laughter echoes in Qiyun Mountain, a Taoist tourist spot in Xiuning county of Huangshan, Anhui province.

At the bustling dice hall, Lu Mengya, a visitor from Shanghai, is caught in a playful standoff with a costumed non-player character, or NPC, and a local actor dressed in flowing robes.

"Come, young master, place your bet!" the actor teases. Lu rolls the dice, wins a handful of silver-printed coins and bursts into laughter.

"I didn't expect to come to a mountain and end up playing an ancient dice game," she said. "It's not just sightseeing. It feels like time-travel with friends."

That, in essence, is the new face of China's domestic tourism. At a time when travelers crave experiences over mere scenery, Qiyun Mountain is rewriting what a mountain getaway means.

Once known mainly for its mist-shrouded Taoist peaks, the resort has evolved into an immersive playground that blends nature, storytelling, and interaction.

Since early 2025, the resort has rolled out what it calls the new generation of experience tour, which has been designed to meet the growing appetite from visitors for personalized and diversified travel.

The revamped experience stretches beyond daytime sightseeing. With the slogan "Entertain by day, Immersive by Night", the resort has launched a lively ancient-style town where tourists can slip into fantasy worlds inspired by Chinese mythology and martial arts lore.

Four themed zones host more than 100 live performances across 50 activities, ranging from role-playing quests to marketplace games. Visitors can earn and spend the resort's exclusive in-game currency by completing challenges or winning games with NPCs, adding a sense of adventure and reward to their stay.

The numbers tell a story of success.

From January to September, the resort received 1.81 million visitors, up 21.3 percent year-on-year. Within that, 426,600 people entered the scenic mountain area, marking a 36.5 percent surge year-on-year.

During the National Day holiday, visitors number reached 291,400, with a 14.9 percent jump in mountain entries, which is evidence that the immersive approach is resonating with travelers.

What sets Qiyun Mountain apart is its deliberate fusion of cultural narrative and modern entertainment logic.

Instead of simply preserving heritage, the resort is turning ancient folklore into living stories that visitors can enter, touch and influence. Each NPC character, from wandering swordsmen to hidden scholars, is trained to improvise with guests, building spontaneous connections that feel part theater, part game.

As China's tourism industry transitions from sightseeing to experience-based consumption, destinations like Qiyun Mountain are extending their value chain, from tickets and accommodation to cultural IP, nighttime economy and retail.

It has become a blueprint for how traditional scenic spots can reinvent themselves as immersive cultural theme parks, appealing to young travelers who expect interaction, emotion and Instagram-worthy moments.

"Visitors today don't just want to see something — they want to feel part of it. We aim to create a place where stories unfold with the traveler inside them," said Huang Ying, director of the culture, tourism and sports bureau of Xiuning.

As twilight descends, lanterns flicker to life and the air fills with the rhythm of drums. NPCs roam the cobbled lanes, inviting visitors to one last duel of wits or luck before nightfall.

"For tourists, it's more than a vacation, it's a living stage where the line between guest and character disappears," Huang said.