Chinese Travelers Choose Skydiving and Safaris Over Handbags

In the 1990s, as Beijing loosened Mao-era restrictions on travel, millions of Chinese left the country for the first time, triggering a rush by companies offering group trips where these new travelers could move smoothly from charter flight to private bus to all-inclusive hotel. For decades, Chinese vacationers could be seen following umbrella-wielding guides around Kyoto, Paris or Venice—including frequent stops at shops offering everything from Eiffel Tower trinkets to $10,000 Birkin handbags.

Today more Chinese holiday makers are shifting to individual travel, with a strong emphasis on adventure and experience. Social media buzzes with photos and videos of mainlanders going on safari in Tanzania, swimming among ice floes in Japan and sampling street food in India. “Luxury bags lose value,” says Vinsa Hu, a 37-year-old modeling agent who once splurged on shopping trips abroad but on a recent visit to New Zealand went hiking, rabbit hunting and deep-sea fishing. “I feel like I need to enjoy life.”