Beijing’s message to the world’s tourists: come here and judge China for yourselves | Zichen Wang

By relaxing visa rules, Beijing has two things on its mind – boosting its economy and improving its self-image Walk through central Beijing today and one thing quickly becomes apparent: foreigners are back. They are taking photos outside the Forbidden City and sitting in cafes around Gulou and Sanlitun. The shift is visible online, too; YouTube is increasingly filled with videos titled “China Shocked Me” or “My First Week in China”. Most of the creators are tourists, not China specialists or journalists, and many of them are encountering the country for the first time. The resurgence is striki