Industrial tourism is factory fun!
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Discussion keeps the world turning. This is Roundtable. Forget roller coasters and mascots. These days, the hottest ticket in town might just be a tour of a factory. From robotic arms dancing in the dark to exclusive snacks you can't buy online, factory visits in China are becoming the new theme park experience.

It's being called Industrial Disneyland. And no, it's not a joke. We discuss why. Coming to you live from Beijing, this is Roundtable. I'm He Young. For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yuxuan in the studio. First on today's show...

When you think of a factory, you might picture clunky machines, endless conveyor belts, and bustling production lines full of focused workers. Not exactly vacation material, right? But in China, those once off-limits

Industrial zones are throwing open their doors and rolling out the welcome mat for tourists. From old school factories steeped in history to cutting edge production lines of everyday consumer goods, industrial tourism is taking off, mixing a little bit of learning, a

a dash of fun, and plenty of social media moments along the way. What exactly is industrial tourism? It has nothing to do with the Industrial Revolution. It's very much modern and contemporary and today's China.

It is. And I'm sure a lot of listeners like me grew up watching movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and living it, you know? Yeah, right. So industrial tourism is something like that, how it was depicted in that movie, where people just simply visit factories, vineyards, and other sites of industrial heritage.

And it's really taking off in China, especially in the recent few years, isn't it? There are also more and more companies that are jumping on the trend by opening up their production lines and just their facilities to the curious general public to come and visit.

And I was wondering like how much such a trip might cost. So I looked a little bit into it and it turns out the cost of this kind of factory tours in China, they can vary quite much. There are some free entry and then there are some that can cost thousands of yuan.

I think. Ooh, that's expensive. Yeah. It depends on what you're going to visit, what type of factory, right? And also it depends on the services that are provided and then the format of the visit. And what I mean by that is, are you going by yourself? Are you going with a group? Some will offer free admission, but may only accept group reservations or require advanced lottery-based booking because they are so popular.

Some mid-range tours, though, just to give you a couple of examples, will typically cost between a few dozen to over 100 yuan, somewhere in the $14 range, and may include your entrance fee and some DIY activities. The Qingdao Beer Museum, for example, located in that part of the country, is 60 yuan. So I think that's pretty reasonably priced for the activities and for the...

for the experience that you get. Yeah, I had the advantage of visiting that Qingdao Beer Museum in the city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province. And yeah, after you enter, they give you a cup of the beer and then they have tour guides showcasing how the cup of beer you're holding is made.

So you take a sip and you feel the very deep culture of why Qingdao, the city, is known for making beer and have several of the leading brands in the industry. So that was quite an experience. Yeah, I used to work for a beer company in Canada, actually, before I moved to Asia. And that was part of the job on the weekends. We would do...

factory tours, and you'd show them around the areas where the beer is made and explain how the process goes. And then you take them into the factory where the bottles go through certain machines and things like that. And people seemed to really enjoy it at the time. And obviously, they still really enjoy that type of experience now. Yeah. And 60 yuan isn't really that bad of a price for all that half a day tour to just

indulge in how one daily product, daily necessity is made. And then there are also higher-end educational factory tours, especially those arranged by schools or institutions at places like automotive or aerospace factories.

They tend to come with a much higher price tag and package deals for adults and kids can go as high as 1,300 yuan. That's roughly 180 US dollars with individual tickets that's typically ranging from 400 to 900 yuan. That's quite a lot.

a lot for one tour, factory tour visits. And also tours for in-demand sites like the popular automobile manufacturer Xiaomi Auto or UniTree Robotics, which is a robotics company from Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province. They have also been resold by sculptors. So there are sculptors getting the tickets and then reselling it at

Prices as high as 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. That's roughly 350 US dollars. That's what you're going to pay for an expensive concert ticket. From famous singers, yes. Yeah, or an expensive sporting event. I've never heard...

of people scalping tickets for industrial tourism, but it's just showing us how popular it is. In addition to the ticket revenue, you know, and that's one benefit for the factories, right? They can also boost their earnings through the onsite sales of their products.

that are often unavailable online or in any other shops, right? And as a result, the cost of visiting a factory can range from nearly nothing to, as you explained, Yushan, it can get quite expensive. But once you get your tickets and you get in there, maybe not every time, but oftentimes there's more ways to spend your money in there. And now you might be thinking, okay, a factory is a factory. How interesting can it be?

But some of these tours are serving full-on theme park vibes, minus the roller coasters, obviously. What kinds of experiences are these factories offering that make them so appealing to families and apparently hip young people?

Before we dive directly into the specific parts, all the details on what they're demonstrating, they're actually drawing two main types of visitors who are extremely engaging in such activities. One are parents who are looking for educational outings for their kids.

And then the other group are just young trend chasers who treat these tours like the latest theme park experience. And this is coined by the Chinese business outlet DT Business Observer. So for the previous option for parents, it's all about hands-on learning, especially to have their kids have something better to do than staying at home.

in the weekends and then for the latter for younger visitors it's more of a mix of just cool tech eye-catching visuals and a fun way to feel relaxed and let go of some stress it's like a living museum modern day museum like happening right now I remember as a kid my parents used to take me to

museums. And I thought, yeah, okay, it's like old stuff. I can't interact with it at all. But then as I got a little bit older, they took me to other museums where it was more interactive. And I think that's one of the benefits here. Maybe we'll get into it a little bit later is that there are interactive experiences that kids can have, that parents can have. And then those trend chasers, as you mentioned, they can have those experiences too. And that just adds to the fun. Can I just say that the word museum is not really...

the best selling point if you're targeting a younger demographic. I suppose for these kids or some young people, they're looking at futuristic technology. And also you mentioned companies such as Xiaomi and Unitree, is it? The robotic company that's behind the

now world-renowned humanoid robots that shot to fame during the this year's um

CCTV Spring Festival Gala. And I think for the tech savvy or interested young people, they want to see new stuff and they want to see how it's being made. And that is eye-catching. I think that's the point, right? Is the how it's made because you're peeking behind the curtain of a product that you are familiar with. And visitors, they can see, you know, if you're talking about products, you can see how they're filled or how they're packaged. You

You can visit car manufacturers and see the mechanical arms with the car bodies and how all of those giant robotic arms are used, which is a really cool thing. No matter how old you are, that's a cool thing to witness, right? You can see the entire process if you're visiting a beverage factory from the blending to the bottling.

And some tours even allow visitors to try out the simple operations themselves. So, yeah, like you said, it's a behind-the-scenes look at things that we may be a little bit, just a little bit familiar with. I think these factories, they're really smart at observing the needs behind their main technology.

targets of audience. So yes, of course, they are coming up with interactive activities for their visitors to get engaged with the whole tour and the activity that's being showcased. There are also high tech and futuristic displays, like you said, He Yang. In some tour, they showcase cutting edge technologies such as robotic

projects, smart manufacturing zones, and even driverless car laboratories. So they just keep all of those places opened up for curious people to get in and see, gosh, that's how it's made, and then have a try on that's how it feels like if you're actually in one of those facilities. A lot of the videos that are popular on certain social media outlets are

how stuff is made where I don't know if you've seen videos like this or not, where they'll have a camera really close to how a product is being, and they'll, you know, the, not the person doing it necessarily, but how the robot is doing it.

People find that very soothing. They get a lot of satisfaction. And even in the comment sections, they'll say satisfaction level super high right now. This is that on another level because you're there witnessing it, right? If you visit the Tesla Shanghai store,

You can watch almost like a techno dance show with the robot arms. If you visit the Xiaomi EV factory, they have an automated guided vehicle or an AGV robots navigating in the dark. And then they have a really eye-catching Mobius ring car sculpture for picture taking for your own socials.

And the main appeal there is that you're having a firsthand experience with really futuristic machinery. It's a tech spectacle. It's cool. You've got your photo opportunities. And again, I think the main point here is you're having an experience that you really can't have in your normal daily life, right? And just...

Also, to zero in on those two examples you just gave us, these are well-established brands. And I can see so many people who are willing to go because the name itself is a draw. It's like when you visit California, for example, are you going to visit if you get the chance?

let's say the Facebook headquarters or let's just say the Apple headquarters. Yes, I did go. Although I was quickly, you know, sort of ringed out of a certain area because apparently they don't allow you to go any further from there. They're probably, they probably have some like business secrets or whatever is going on. A lot of information they don't want shared. Sure. Yeah. And they had a nice lady saying, Oh,

oh, please stay in the tourist area. And there's the gift shop. There's new tech that you can experiment with. And I think this is all sort of closing the loop of a very smart business strategy of brand building as well. And the two factories that...

Steve, you mentioned, I think they have that name drop, but not all companies do, right? And then what about some of the other, maybe other food and beverages or consumer-facing brands that might even get a boost from this kind of tour instead of vice versa? It's already so well known. Yeah, it's really interesting because when you think about food and beverage factories, a lot of the times...

we would just naturally think that their factory are so closed up in order to secure food security or quality security for their products. But nowadays, there are a lot of such brands in the food and beverage factories, industries that they're trying to create this interactive and family friendly kind of experience for all. One example is the Weigang Dairy Factory, and they allow kids to wear lab coats

and try milking cows to be made into dairy or cheese, all kinds of products. And also they can be part of the packaging process as well and do quality checks like a pro. And then there is the Yuanqi Forest, the Yuanqi Forest, which is a very famous beverage factory in China that's allowing a full walkthrough from drink mixing to packaging. And also there is like educational sessions for parents and kids.

And you guys know I was in Guizhou just a few weeks ago, and I had the chance of being thrown into a chili pepper sauce producing factory. And guess what? It was quite an experience. And now is the time that I just slip this out that not all factories are suitable for visiting. We talked about like dairy and drink making, but the chili pepper,

pepper sauce filled with chili in the air and hot sauce smell everywhere. It's such a, it was such an attack on your eyes, your nostril, your throat. And it was quite an experience to see, you know, I am also a chili lover in some way. And it's amazing that

people are showing you how it's done just like Charlie and the chocolate factory but instead of chocolate they're making chili sauce so but in the meantime yeah choose wisely which factory you're getting in it's still fun to experience I would think right because it's something we all enjoy maybe not all but many of us enjoy a nice hot sauce from time to time but we don't often think oh how does this actually get made what's the process what was your big takeaway from that experience

that visiting such a factory really helps building brand confidence in some way. I see how the raw chili are being chopped in pieces and mixed together and salted, processed, and put in a jar.

all through mechanic ways and it's looking very clean and people entering need to wear certain equipments on them to make sure that you're clean enough in that very experience. Right, so that you can enter in there yourself. Yeah, and do feel free to check out that show, which is from a couple of weeks ago and still on our podcast feed, you know,

Yusheng and the gang went there, did the show on the spot. And I remember in the opening of the show, Lai Ming was like, oh, you know, careful, please allow us if we sneeze or whatnot. And you guys were troopers for not letting it out. Well, actually, we edit them out.

So it was fantastic. We have, we have some industrial tourism in Canada too. I think in Canada it's still considered niche and you could argue here in China. It's still considered niche, especially compared to other types of tourism, right? In Ontario, there's something called dynamic earth. That's the home. It's, they have a giant nickel outside, which is kind of a tourist attraction for some reason. Um,

There they have this hands-on science center. They have earth science and mining experiences. You can have a guided tour underground, which is kind of cool. So again, they show you the behind-the-scenes action for that nickel mining industry. We have it in Canada, too. It's not as popular as the nature-related tourism, but it still does exist for sure. Yeah. And in China, we have some of the older factories there.

that bear sort of the industrial heritage and history of the country or of that region. And they attract tourists there too. Of course, factory tours aren't exactly a new invention. Where did it all start? And why is the industrial tourism buzz peaking now in China? So two parts of the question. Feel free to jump in.

Well, the concept of this industrial tourism, it can be traced back to all the way back in the mid-20th century in Europe, which involves visiting factories, vineyards, and other sites of industrial heritage. And there is one automobile factoring company in France that I could not pronounce at this point. Citroën.

Yes, Sichuan. Right, that was the one. So Sichuan was a pioneer back in the 1950s by opening its production workshops, which garnered just significant attention and led to factory visits that's becoming fashionable. So that's where it kind of started. And then in the late 1990s in China, industrial tourism kind of began to take root internationally.

And before that, back in the 1960s and 70s, factory visits were just mostly for business, you know, when partners of the company and also just visitors from a business point of view, they're coming in to explore profits.

to facilitate in the technical exchanges or updates, but with increased investments and government backing over the years, it's growing into such a thriving industry nowadays. DT Business Observer actually concluded that at least

13 companies, most in the auto and food and beverage sectors. They have opened their factory doors to the public over the past five years. So that's how fast developing it is here in China. And you guys mentioned...

And actually, I think vineyards, that's a little bit of anomaly from the other industrial tourism options because I love... Okay, let's phrase this differently. There are lots of wine lovers out there, and you might be listening to one of them right now. And it's different experience as visiting a factory, but I suppose you're visiting to see how the wine is being made and you get to taste them and...

And also, you know, the alcohol adding to the buzz, that's always a good feeling. Not always, but, you know, those kind of things attract people. You've also got nature, too, right? Oh, yes, of course.

Of course. Oh, yeah, right. I forgot about that part. That part of it. Yeah, you and my sister would get along well. She really enjoys going on wine tours when she can. And that's a really explosive business. The global wine tourism market is projected to expand from $108 billion in 2025 to $358 billion by 2035. That's from a newly released market report.

That's pretty significant growth, almost 13%, right? Wine tourism has been around. It's popular in Canada. It's popular in the United States. It's popular in Europe. And it's all part of that experiential tourism, right? And I think we can talk about this when we talk about visiting robotics factories or automobile production factories. It's the experience that

tourists are looking for when they're enjoying this type of thing. They want to be engaged with the tech or with the tradition or with the gastronomy, if it's food related or whatever it happens to be, they're involved and it adds to a deeper level of enjoyment, right? Yes. Quick, quick, just quick and tiny question. Oh, Steve, I did not know Canada makes wine. Mm-hmm.

See? Canada's famous for ice wine, as a matter of fact. Oh, very sweet and nice. Yeah, dessert wine. Gotcha. Okay. So let's turn our attention back to China. How big really is this industrial tourism trend right now?

Wow, there's such a large visitor numbers. In China nowadays, we have over 1,000 industrial tourism sites across the country. For example, the Qingdao Beer Museum in Shandong in eastern China, they welcome more than 1.8

million visitors back in 2024, which is a 12.5% increase from the year before. And during the 2024 National Day holiday, and during that holiday period alone, Mishu Bingcheng, which is another very popular beverage among young people especially. So this brand's factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province, they hosted 23,000 visitors. That's just how big

it is for people to be part of nowadays. And also there, we've mentioned how high demand it is. They even, there's for some tour trips, there's even sculptors to help you get the tickets. And, but the, the demand, they can be far outpacing supply in some cases. And, um,

There's also such a big social media engagement online nowadays. Interests on social media about tours alike is booming as well. And searches for factory in the tourism category on Red Note, they jumped 171% over the past year. So that's just how fast it's going in one year's time. And of course, last but not least, there's the local governments and authorities' huge efforts

backing up on developing local, say, industrial tours as a way of just showcasing their own industries as well. Talking about how competitive the tickets can be, Xiaomi, their car factory, on opening day of January 2025,

They had 20 spots, right? 20. 20 spots. They have 20 spots per session, tour session. And there were 4,600 applicants. That gave, yeah, it's like buying a lottery ticket. Seriously. You had a 0.4% chance of getting into that particular session. Really tough to get in. Like you said, there's the name draw, right? So people want to know and it's cool. It's a cool thing to do. Yeah. Okay. So.

So visitors are clearly into it. But what's it in for the factories? Turns out it's not just about selling snacks and souvenirs. What's the business case here? How are these tours helping brands build loyalty, trust, or just plain cash flow?

Yeah, I mean, money, right? Businesses are often motivated by financial incentives, right? This is a really lucrative opportunity, isn't it? Because of the ticket sales, if that's what they do, the product sales that can take place

At the factories themselves, oftentimes they'll have food and beverage opportunities there too, right? People can buy some snacks and some drinks. Again, to bring up the Qingdao Beer Museum, their official data showed that the tour service brought in almost 4 million yuan. That's about a half a million dollars, a little more than that.

in revenue during the spring festival only, not an entire year. During the 2025 spring festival, that's how much revenue they brought in. So it's obvious, isn't it? But yeah, as you mentioned, it's not just that. You're building something with your potential customers or your existing customers. It's brand loyalty.

Right. It's exposure, brand exposure. You're showing people your story. And when you talk or when you listen to professional professionals from a food and beverage industry,

Especially chefs. One thing that they'll talk about a lot is a dish needs to have a story. And I think this applies to brands too. When your customers are familiar with your story, then you create a stronger bond with them and it increases the chances of them being a long-term customer as opposed to just a one-off visitor.

Yeah, as some comments said that transparency is the best way to communicate. Some of these factories, they simply open up their own factory to showcase production lines and equipment and in the meantime create such a trust medium that, like you said, Steve, attracts more people to have faith in them and

in a way it's also preserving their own industrial heritage as well. Because for some cities, sometimes converting abandoned factory into cultural attractions can also be helpful and helps preserving such industrial heritage that they probably have for more than a few decades in some cases. I would second that, especially the building trust thing. And I'll only allude to for certain, let's say, food brands,

Well, with some of the products, when you see the final product, okay, at least just for me, somebody who's quite health conscious, I would say, when I see like, okay, this is a purple drink, or this is like blue drink or whatever it is, and then they've got all kinds of stuff added to it. And then

I would assume a lot of 科技合伙 is involved. And it would quiet my worries a little bit if I get to see, oh, how this is actually being made in the factory. And if they show me that, oh,

oh, actually, it is natural ingredients. Oh, actually, everybody, I don't assume there are a lot of actual human workers on the assembly line anymore since so much is automated nowadays. Then at least, you know, it's clean, it's safe ingredients, the whole process is safe. And then that makes me feel so much better about what I'm putting into my mouth. And that can work for your company as

If it benefits you. My friend in high school worked at a meatpacking plant, and I asked him one day, oh, how do they make hot dogs? And he said, Steve, I think it's best if you never ask me anything.

about my job. And I said, okay, and I never did. So you see my point there? - Yeah. - And also I think, you know, we're talking about the business side of things, but also there's an educational side, depending on your factory too, right? Your business.

The dairy factory you were talking about before where kids can put on their lab coats and have the experience of trying to milk a cow or something. You learn the benefits of calcium or vitamin C or whatever, whatever goes into the products. You can teach kids about that too. Yeah. Also, it's a little...

It's a living being, a living creature, a cow, where you're enjoying all this rich content from. You said cow, and I immediately thought of my friend's meatpacking job. Oh, my goodness. Sorry. Sorry. It's all interlinked. All interlinked. You can't miss a minute on the show. And yes, but it's very educational, and you're absolutely right with that. And not every factory is ready for this kind of close-up work.

While the buzz is real, the road to turning industrial zones into tourist magnets isn't exactly smooth for every company. What's one big challenge you see for them?

Well, you know, maybe it can offer as a lesson or just a note worthy to further this kind of cause. Well, I think, you know, we talked about the competitive nature of getting the tickets, right? That can be there's a downside to that, too, I think. Right. Yes. Right. Because if you try to go and you have no success when you're trying to book.

that could potentially backfire, right? Where the customer may end up with a negative image somehow, some way, because they didn't have the positive experience they were looking for. That might be an extreme reaction, but I think it's still a possible reaction. And in the meantime, there are some factories, I hope not all of them are seeing the opportunity in this and trying to invest in something similar of a tour in their own factory. But a lot of times, sometimes,

the common problem with that is that they're creating those only touring no learning kind of experience for people you go there you spend the money you got in and you see things you got curious and then your questions get answered and then you leave and forget about it that's the thing that

It's not really working that well. Well, or you go and you don't get your questions answered, right? You have a bad experience and that could lead to a negative brand image too. You see, that's why I think it's really important for such factories to really present their packaging process and see how the products are packaged.

packed in jars, packed in bags, and put in suitcases and sealed and ready for shipment. I think that's really important and it's a key way to demonstrate to your visitors that we are not doing shows. This is a real production line. These are ready to be shipped products that we're shipping out into real supermarkets, etc. Just judging by what you just said,

Yuchen, I think you qualify to be at least the project manager of the factory tourism side of the business. Thank you. But on a less serious note, when I took my parents and my aunt and uncle on a trip to one vineyard...

Yes, there was this educational tour aspect of things. But after five glasses of superb wine, do we remember anything? No, we don't. But we had a fabulous time. I just think wine tours are just so, you know, like, oh, what do you smell? Do you smell the leathery? What? Leather? No. Wooden. No, I know. It's just like, I smell grapes. Yeah.

Indeed. So after five glasses, you don't remember anything. But it was a, yeah, I'll not repeat myself. I'll say her. That encourages repeat tourism, I suppose. Yeah. Industrial tourism may seem like a quirky trend on the surface, but it hints at something deeper. A growing curiosity about how things are made, a hunger for transparency, and maybe even a renewed appreciation for the hands and machines behind the products we use every day.