Beijing received 5.48 million inbound visits in 2025 — up 39% in a single year — with 4.56 million foreign nationals, up 41.8%. The driver is policy: China now offers unilateral visa-free entry to 50 countries, and 30 million foreigners used it nationwide in 2025, Russia included since September.
Beijing's 5.48 million inbound visits in 2025 split into 4.557 million foreign nationals (+41.8%) and 923,500 from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan (+26.7%). Among foreigners: 2.01 million from Asia (+43%), 1.562 million from Europe (+47.9%) and 641,000 from the Americas (+35.6%). Europe is the fastest-growing block — a direct read on the visa-free expansion across the continent.
The holiday pulses show the momentum: 119,000 overseas arrivals during the October 2025 Golden Week (+48%), and 128,000 inbound visits in the May Day 2026 holiday (+22.3%) — records on records.
China's unilateral visa-free list now covers 50 countries — most of the EU, plus Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and others — extended through end-2026. Russia joined on 15 September 2025, and Russian entries rose immediately and notably. On top, the 240-hour transit rule covers 65 ports for 55 further nationalities.
The result at national level: 154.5 million inbound visits in 2025 (+17.1%), 35.17 million of them foreigners, and 30.08 million visa-free entries (+49.5%) — nearly three-quarters of all foreign arrivals. Beijing and Shanghai are the twin gateways; Beijing alone saw over 840,000 visa-free arrivals in H1 2025, double the prior year.
The inbound mix is younger than before: post-2000 travelers account for over 15% of arrivals nationally, with bookings up 90% versus 2019. Social media — "China Travel" and "Chinamaxxing" hashtags — is doing the marketing; high-speed rail rides, hanfu dress-ups, hotpot and drone shows are the shared rituals.
In Beijing the itinerary is concentrated: the Palace Museum, Mutianyu and Badaling Great Wall, Universal Beijing Resort, and the Sanlitun and Wangfujing commercial districts top the official lists of overseas-visitor stops.
If you hold a passport on the visa-free list — including a Russian one — the practical barrier to Beijing has dropped to near zero: 30 days, no consulate, no fee. But two friction points remain and both are solvable before departure: set up Alipay or WeChat with your foreign card (inbound visitors spent ¥80 billion via mobile pay in 2025 — cash is the hard way), and register your accommodation within 24 hours if you stay outside hotels. Do those two things and Beijing in 2026 is logistically easier than it has ever been for a foreigner.
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