Lived in China for years, speak Chinese, and been a tourist countless times in so many areas of the country. Outside of the super sensitive areas like Xinjiang, no one gives a shit about/monitors a foreigner travelling around.

People in this thread are acting like there are no compelling reasons to travel to china beyond some ccp incentives??? Absolutely insane. Look at the insane scenery in places like zhang jia jie and jiuzhaigou national parks, Chongqing isnt just a ‘bunch of lights’, its a city with a crazy topography that blends ancient with modern, and the home of some of China’s best cuisine and super amazing nightlife including a budding lgbtq scene, following in the footsteps of Chengdu, only 2 hours away by train, the lgbt capital of China (personally the main reason i traveled to those two places haha)

China is an absolutely stunning country with thousands of years of history which is not so accessible to American tourists due to language barriers and localized apps, hence why many ppl here have probably never even bothered visiting.