New trend to explore 'city' China making waves on social media

The catchphrase "city不(bu)city," which means "city or not a city," went viral on social media last week.

It was created by a TikTok vlogger @bao_bao_xiong_ and his videos using the catchphrase have received millions of views on both TikTok and Douyin.

@bao_bao_xiong, a foreigner based in Shanghai, first used "city不city" in the video when he and his sister went to the Great Wall on June 3 and started to use this phrase repeatedly in his video. "City不city" soon went viral on both TikTok and Douyin, and many netizens started to imitate his style and use this phrase.

On Saturday, @bao_bao_xiong posted a video explaining the meaning of this phrase. He said that "city" can simply mean something very "of the city," like fashionable, but most importantly it's a feeling of lively or thrilling.

As soon as this explanation video was posted, it became a trending topic on Douyin and attracted even more people to use it, including Chinese actresses such as Ada Choi and foreign vlogger @德国马丁Martin.

As the summer travel season approached, many people started to use "city不city" to express their feelings about a new place on social media and it became an attraction of China for foreign tourists.

"Come and join friends from across the world and find a China beyond your imagination --- it's so city," Xie Feng, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, said on the X platform on Tuesday.

Since China announced the 72/144-hour visa-free transit policy last November, it has applied to 54 countries and attracted millions of foreigners coming to explore the "city" of China.

According to the National Immigration Administration, the number of foreigners coming to China recorded a threefold increase in the first quarter of this year. About two million foreigners enjoyed the visa-free policy in China during the first three months of this year.

144-hour visa-free transit and #chinatravel have also become trending topics on TikTok and YouTube. @PASSPORT VISIONZ, a TikTok vlogger, came to China with her husband and filmed a series of videos recording their astonishment when they saw the "city" China, which has reached more than seven million views on TikTok and became their most viewed video.

Many netizens who saw those videos expressed their amazement at how "city" China is now and their willingness to come to China.

TikTok user @au said, "Chongqing looks unreal, and I hope I can visit someday," while YouTube user @Somali1971 said, "China has done some incredible things in the past 30 years."