Best Chinese Social Media to Attract Tourists in 2024

Chinese tourists are back, and they are spending more than ever. Rising disposable incomes, longer holiday periods, and a post-pandemic appetite for travel have put hundreds of millions of Chinese travelers back on the move. In 2025, outbound Chinese tourism surpassed 130 million trips, according to data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). If you want to reach them, you need to be where they are: online, on Chinese platforms.

For most Chinese travelers, trip planning starts on a phone. They search, compare, and book entirely within Chinese apps. Western platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Google simply do not exist inside China. That means one thing for your business: if you are not on the right Chinese platforms, you are invisible.

Why Chinese Social Media is Different

China’s internet is its own world. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google are all blocked. In their place, a set of Chinese platforms has grown to become some of the most active digital spaces on earth. WeChat has over 1.3 billion monthly active users. Douyin hit 750 million daily active users in 2024. Xiaohongshu (RED) counts over 300 million registered users, mostly young, urban, and high-spending.

These are not niche tools. They are the main channels where Chinese people discover destinations, read reviews, watch travel videos, and make bookings. If you run a hotel, a tour operator, or a destination board, this is where your future Chinese guests are spending their time.

The Best Chinese Social Media Platforms for Tourism

Douyin: The Discovery Engine

Douyin is China’s version of TikTok, but bigger in many ways. Short video content is the main format, and travel content performs exceptionally well. A stunning clip of your destination, hotel, or local experience can reach millions of people without any ad spend, if the content is good enough.

Businesses in tourism should post short, visually driven clips: sunsets, local food, hidden streets, happy guests. Work with Chinese travel KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) who already have large followings. Their audiences trust them far more than they trust brand accounts. One well-placed video from a travel KOL with 2 million followers can generate thousands of inquiries in days.

Douyin also has a live streaming feature. Live tours of your property or destination, run at peak Chinese evening hours, create a real sense of connection with potential visitors. Learn more about Douyin marketing for tourism.

Xiaohongshu (RED): Where Trust is Built

Xiaohongshu, also called Little Red Book or RED, is where Chinese travelers go to research destinations before booking. It started as a beauty and lifestyle platform for young women, but today it covers every travel topic imaginable. Users post detailed trip reports, hotel reviews, restaurant picks, and day-by-day itineraries.

What makes RED powerful for tourism is the trust factor. Content on RED feels personal and honest. Chinese travelers trust posts from real users more than any advertising. If your hotel is featured in a genuine, well-photographed post, that does more for your bookings than a banner ad ever could.

Tips for RED: post in Chinese, use local keywords, show authentic moments, and respond to comments. Partner with micro-KOLs (accounts with 10,000 to 200,000 followers) for better engagement rates than big names. See our full guide on Xiaohongshu marketing for travel brands.

WeChat: The Loyalty Channel

WeChat is the backbone of Chinese digital life. Over 1.3 billion people use it every day for messaging, payments, news, and bookings. For tourism brands, WeChat is less about discovery and more about keeping guests close once they have found you.

A WeChat Official Account lets you push content directly to followers: special offers, travel tips, new itineraries, and seasonal promotions. The QR code feature is particularly useful in a physical context: print it on brochures, hotel room cards, or airport advertising so guests can follow you instantly. WeChat Mini Programs also let you build a full booking and customer service experience inside the app. Get the details on our WeChat marketing page.

Weibo: The Open Social Network

Weibo is China’s answer to Twitter. With over 590 million monthly active users in 2025, it remains a major platform for news, trends, and public conversation. Travel brands use Weibo to post destination content, run hashtag campaigns, and work with celebrity KOLs to reach a mass audience.

Unlike WeChat, Weibo is open: anyone can see your content, not just followers. This makes it good for brand awareness and driving new traffic to your accounts. Brands post beautiful destination photos, short videos, and promotional deals. Chinese users engage through likes, comments, and reposts.

Mafengwo: The Trip-Planning Community

Mafengwo is a travel-specific platform where Chinese users share detailed guides, itineraries, and reviews. It functions like a combination of TripAdvisor and Reddit, but built for Chinese travelers. Users contribute millions of travel guides, and the platform has over 200 million registered users according to Mafengwo’s own data.

For destinations and hotels, having a strong presence on Mafengwo matters. Positive user reviews and well-written destination guides in Chinese can influence thousands of travel decisions. Brands can also purchase advertising space or work with Mafengwo’s editorial team to feature their destination.

Working with Chinese KOLs

Chinese consumers trust people, not brands. KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are the most effective way to reach Chinese travelers with credibility. A travel KOL with a loyal following can do in one video what months of advertising cannot.

The key is to choose KOLs whose audience matches your target traveler. A budget backpacker KOL will not sell five-star resort packages. A luxury travel blogger who covers Europe is perfect if you run a Paris hotel. Look at engagement rates, not just follower counts. A KOL with 200,000 engaged followers often outperforms one with 2 million passive ones.

Why Your Chinese Digital Presence Matters

Social media alone is not enough. Chinese travelers expect a complete digital experience in their language, on their terms. Here is what a solid Chinese digital presence looks like:

• Chinese website with ICP license and China hosting (Alibaba Cloud or Tencent Cloud): your site must load fast inside China. Without an ICP license and Chinese hosting, pages are slow or blocked entirely.
• Douyin: this is where discovery happens today. A Chinese traveler who sees your destination on Douyin is already halfway sold before they even visit your website.
• Xiaohongshu (RED): this is where they confirm their decision. Authentic posts from other Chinese travelers build the trust needed to convert interest into a booking.
• Baidu SEO and PPC: Baidu owns over 60% of China’s search market. If your Chinese website does not rank on Baidu, you are missing the bulk of organic search traffic from Chinese travelers actively looking for what you offer.
• WeChat: once someone becomes a follower or a guest, WeChat keeps them engaged, loyal, and coming back.

You can explore all these services on our services page or read more about the full picture at our Chinese digital marketing agency overview.

Quick Comparison: Which Platform for What Goal

Platform	Best For	Content Type
Douyin	Discovery, reach, viral content	Short video, live stream
Xiaohongshu	Trust-building, pre-trip research	Photo posts, reviews, guides
WeChat	Loyalty, CRM, direct booking	Push content, mini programs
Weibo	Brand awareness, mass reach	Posts, hashtag campaigns
Mafengwo	Trip planning, destination guides	Reviews, itineraries

FAQ

Which Chinese social media platform should I start with for tourism marketing?

Start with Douyin. It has the biggest reach and the most active travel content community in China right now. A well-produced short video of your destination or hotel can be seen by hundreds of thousands of people within days, even without a large following. Once you have Douyin running, add Xiaohongshu to build trust with travelers who are actively researching. These two platforms together cover the discovery and decision stages of the Chinese traveler’s booking process.

Do I need to post content in Chinese?

Yes, absolutely. Chinese-language content performs dramatically better on all Chinese platforms. The algorithms favor it, and Chinese users engage far more with content written and spoken in their own language. You do not need to be fluent in Mandarin yourself. Work with a Chinese content team or agency that understands platform culture, current slang, and local trending topics. Generic translated content rarely works well. Content that feels local and authentic is what drives results.

How much does it cost to work with Chinese travel KOLs?

It depends heavily on the KOL’s size and niche. A micro-KOL with 50,000 to 200,000 followers might charge between USD 300 and USD 2,000 per post. A top-tier travel influencer with millions of followers can command USD 20,000 to USD 100,000 per campaign. The good news is that micro-KOLs often deliver better engagement rates and more genuine recommendations. For most tourism brands entering China, starting with 3 to 5 strong micro-KOLs in your niche is a smarter first step than spending big on a single celebrity name.

Can I manage Chinese social media accounts without being based in China?

Yes, many international brands do this successfully with the help of a Chinese digital marketing agency based in China. The key requirements are: having a Chinese business entity or a local partner for account registration, a team that posts regularly in the right format for each platform, and someone available to respond to Chinese-language comments and messages quickly. Response time matters a lot on Chinese platforms. Users expect fast replies, and slow responses hurt your brand’s credibility.

Ready to Attract More Chinese Travelers?

The opportunity is real. Chinese outbound tourism is growing fast, and travelers are actively looking for new destinations. Your job is simply to make sure they can find you, trust you, and book with you, all within the platforms they already use every day. We have helped dozens of hotels, destinations, and tour operators build that presence from scratch. Visit our services page to see exactly how we can help you.

Marcus Zhan is a digital strategist at CTA with over 10 years of experience helping international brands grow in China. He specializes in Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Chinese SEO.