Beijing – September 15, 2026 -- China Daily and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism launched "China Bound • Beijing," an English-language smart travel platform, on Sept 9 at the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development in the city.
The platform bundles a website, two mini-programs and an AI assistant into one system.
It runs as a city-level extension of China Daily's broader "China Bound" platform, accessible via www.chinabound.cn/beijing, plus dedicated Beijing pages on the Alipay and WeChat mini-programs. Users can find these by searching "ChinaBound" or "游在中国" within either app.
Nine content sections cover everything from street food to countryside trips.
The website organizes information into sections including "Uniquely in Beijing," "Taste of Beijing," "Trending Places," "What to Buy," "Where to Stay," "Festivals & Events" and "Countryside Getaways." The site is built to auto-adjust between desktop and mobile browsing.
A panda-branded AI chatbot named Kuki handles itinerary planning.
Travelers can query Kuki for trip planning, information searches and guided tours. The mini-programs separately offer flight and train ticket bookings, hotel reservations, smart translation, transportation help, currency conversion and online payment.
Beijing's inbound tourism numbers jumped sharply in the first seven months of 2026.
Following visa-free transit policies introduced by China, the number of inbound visitors to Beijing rose 32.4 percent year-on-year during that period, while their tourism spending climbed 39.7 percent, according to a report on the city's economic and social development.
Officials from more than 50 countries and regions attended the launch.
Zhu Baoxia, deputy publisher of China Daily, and Zheng Fang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, formally launched the platform. Guo Huaigang, secretary general of the World Tourism Cities Federation, presided over the conference, which continues through Sept 11. Witnesses included Sima Hong, vice-mayor of Beijing, Valletta Mayor Olaf McKay, and representatives from the Pacific Asia Travel Association and the World Tourism Alliance.