On April 28, lifestyle app Xiaohongshu released a 2026 Foreigners Traveling to China Trend Report, which shows that Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, has become one of the top five fastest-rising cities in popularity among foreign tourists on Xiaohongshu.

Nowadays, the top 10 cities most searched by foreigners on Xiaohongshu are Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Kunming, and Harbin. The top five fastest-rising dark horse cities are Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Guiyang, Fuzhou, and Yiwu.

Numerous tourists visit Guiyang every year. [Photo/Guiyang news network]

Guiyang's rise to fame began with a spontaneous "city comparison" by netizens. They discovered that Guiyang bears a striking resemblance to Seoul: a love for spicy and sour flavors, numerous coffee shops, bustling street commerce, and similar viewpoints on Dongshan and Inwangsan. A South Korean blogger's vlog in Guiyang received over 11,000 likes on Xiaohongshu. Today, Guiyang has become an especially popular destination among South Korean tourists, following Shanghai and Zhangjiajie.

Additionally, the city has been hailed as a paradise for vegetarians by Western tourists. A Canadian blogger explored Guiyang from a vegetarian perspective, highlighting dishes like water-boiled vegetables, creative potato dishes, and bingjiang (sticky rice smoothie).