Riding on the back of the Chinamaxxing trend sweeping Western social media, a group of 26 journalists, experts, social media influencers, and Gen Z representatives from 16 countries visited Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Hengqin from Oct 19 to 23, exploring technological advances and their real-world applications, ecological wetlands, and the ancient streets of towns with a rich history of overseas Chinese emigration.
Since early 2026, Chinamaxxing has gained significant traction on TikTok and other social media platforms, with videos and posts covering a wide range of topics, from everyday habits, food, wellness and traditional culture to cutting-edge technologies and modern lifestyles in China.
As Chinamaxxing continues to attract growing attention online, the 2026 "A Date With China · Meet Guangdong" tour offered journalists and social media content creators an opportunity to experience the country firsthand. Shenzhen and Guangdong as a whole serve as windows through which the world can gain a closer understanding of China. During their visits, participants gained insights into Shenzhen's relentless innovation and its emergence as a high-tech hub, Guangdong's approach to opening-up, and the history of a province that pioneered China's trade with the outside world.
If visits like this tour represent people-to-people exchange at the grassroots level, the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen will bring together leaders for the highest-level engagement among APEC economies. The stakes are high as leaders sit down to address shared concerns and seek solutions to advance openness, innovation and cooperation, the three priority areas of APEC 2026.
At the 37th APEC Ministerial Meeting held via video conference on Nov 3, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao highlighted the challenges facing the world economy, including growing risks of fragmentation in industrial and supply chains and sluggish global economic growth. He urged APEC economies to uphold free trade, promote innovation-driven development and advance discussions on digital and intelligent economic and trade rules.
Shenzhen, the host city, undoubtedly offers a showcase of innovation, openness and Chinese modernization more broadly. "APEC is going to be a great showcase for Shenzhen, but it's also worth remembering that a lot of what visitors will see is the result of the city's innovation and development. What's needed for more effective competition and partnership with China is understanding how that development took place and learning lessons from it that can be applied back home," Sean Upton-McLaughlin, a business consultant who previously worked at Shenzhen-based tech giant Huawei and smartphone maker vivo, said in a post on X.
One example is Shenzhen's highly integrated industrial and supply chains, which can demonstrate to APEC delegates how the city can help trading partners build more resilient supply chains and guard against disruptions. British vlogger Toby Symonds, who joined the October media tour, was impressed by the AI Valley in Nanshan district of Shenzhen. More than 200 robotics companies are located there, enabling efficient development, rapid iteration and lower costs. "An example may be like: design in the morning, prototype in the afternoon, and if you need to refine it, the next day," Symonds said in a video, highlighting the advantages of having companies along an industrial chain clustered in the same building or industrial park.
Shenzhen also demonstrates how a modern city can balance economic growth with nature conservation.
"I was impressed by how Shenzhen can bring together nature conservation and development in a modern city. I was surprised by the contrast between the skyline and the mangrove forest," Tahiry Fanomezana Rakotomamonjy, a program officer at the International Mangrove Center, an organization established as part of China's efforts to promote mangrove conservation, told a reporter covering the 2026 "A Date With China · Meet Guangdong" tour.
She said Shenzhen uses a range of technologies to monitor its mangroves, including AI-based monitoring, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). These technologies can help countries better manage their mangroves. "We can work together to find effective solutions for better mangrove conservation and restoration," she said.
Culture is also part of what Shenzhen and Guangdong have to offer. Cultural exchanges can build bridges between people around the world, laying the groundwork for closer trade and economic ties.
At the Annual Content Creation Exchange Meeting of "A Date With China 2026," Indian vlogger Ram Niranjan Sharma shared how his short videos capture the interplay between Chinese culture and commerce.
The foreign journalists and social media influencers also explored the ancient streets of Zhongshan city and Tangjia ancient town in Zhuhai, where they learned about communities that once flourished through overseas trade and emigration. These places offer a glimpse into the benefits of free trade, cross-border cultural exchanges and economic cooperation.
They also visited the Hengqin International Film Studio, which facilitates the production and export of short dramas and provides one-stop filmmaking services. In recent years, China has seen a significant expansion in the overseas distribution of its micro-dramas and films, with short-form dramas emerging as a particularly fast-growing cultural export.
Following the success of the Shenzhen-created dance drama "Wing Chun," Shenzhen-produced movie "Dear You" has also won acclaim overseas after its successful theatrical run in China. In the movie, a debt-ridden grandson in Guangdong travels to Thailand in search of a grandfather he believes abandoned the family, only to discover a decades-long story of sacrifice, responsibility and love told through qiaopi — letters sent by overseas Chinese that often carried remittances as well. The film's heartwarming story of family ties across borders resonates with members of the Chinese diaspora around the world, as well as with audiences from different cultural backgrounds. It has earned positive reviews from critics in Southeast Asia, North America and beyond.
Guangdong's history of emigration and maritime trade has helped shape its culture of openness and inclusiveness. Beyond its compelling stories of innovation and opening-up, Shenzhen, with its growing cultural soft power, is well positioned to demonstrate to skeptics of free trade that cooperation, rather than isolation, offers a better path forward for APEC economies.
(The author is a senior adviser at Shenzhen Press Group)
