By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-29 02:06:28 | Updated at 2025-04-03 10:59:23
5 days ago
Over the past year, 28-year-old Jordy Cheah has visited China seven times.
A Singaporean tech sales representative who works remotely, Cheah has travelled to a number of major Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, but she’s also ventured off the beaten path to Xinjiang, Hunan and Yunnan – often travelling solo.
What keeps drawing her back? Nature, convenience, affordability and a deep love for China’s culture, language and people.
“I personally really enjoy being in Dali, Yunnan, so I go back there quite often,” Cheah told This Week in Asia. “It has good proximity to mountains and lake, good weather, good tea, fresh produce, slower pace of life, and an oversupply of homestays and hotels, making lodging costs quite low for a larger living space compared to Singapore.”
Cheah is part of a growing wave of young Singaporeans rediscovering China as a top travel destination. Industry observers say the trend kicked into high gear from February last year, when Beijing introduced 30-day visa-free entry.
Arrivals from Singapore to China more than doubled in 2024, climbing from 260,000 in 2023 to an estimated 535,000, according to Oxford Economics. While the numbers remain a fraction of pre-pandemic levels – when over a million Singaporeans visited China annually – interest is quickly gaining steam.
