Behind the Viral Rise of China’s ‘Cyberpunk City’

Why It Matters

Chongqing’s social‑media‑driven tourism demonstrates how digital virality can reshape city branding, driving foreign arrivals and prompting policy shifts, while also exposing infrastructure and talent gaps that other aspiring “viral cities” must address.

Key Takeaways

• Chongqing’s vertical cliffside architecture fuels its cyber‑punk viral image.
• Social media daka tourism surged after 2023 pandemic reopening.
• Local influencers monetize tours, offering “skywalk” rides for tourists.
• Visa‑free policy boosted international arrivals to record 760,000 in 2025.
• Government studies viral city model to replicate tourism growth elsewhere.

Summary

The video examines how Chongqing, a sprawling metropolis built on steep cliffs, has become known worldwide as a “cyber‑punk city” and a hotspot for viral travel content.

Its dizzying verticality, dense high‑rise blocks and dramatic night lights first caught attention in Chinese movies after 2016, then exploded on Douyin and TikTok when creators began posting “daka” footage. The trend accelerated in early 2023 after pandemic restrictions lifted, prompting local influencers to package skywalk tours, bike rides and hot‑pot experiences for tourists.

Local guide Jackson jokes that visitors can’t tell which floor they’re on, while American streamer iShowSpeed’s 2025 visit sparked a wave of collaboration requests. The city even built a dedicated platform at Lee Ziba Station to accommodate photo‑hungry travelers, and bikers now charge 300 yuan for five‑minute night‑river rides.

The surge has tangible economic effects: a visa‑free policy in late 2024 helped Chongqing welcome over 760,000 international visitors in 2025, and officials are studying the “viral city” formula at the national Two Sessions. Yet rapid foot traffic strains infrastructure and highlights a shortage of skilled tourism staff, prompting calls for better planning as other Chinese cities chase similar fame.

Original Description

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Chongqing has become one of China’s most popular travel hotspots in recent years. Many Chinese and international social media content creators have hopped on the viral trend of making videos about the city’s bewildering, mountainous urban landscape. The South China Morning Post’s Llewellyn Cheung travelled to Chongqing to meet a local content creator and tourism experts to find out what the city is really like beyond the viral trends, and why its success is so hard to replicate elsewhere in China.

0:00 Chongqing viral videos

1:10 Vertical maze

3:05 How Chongqing went viral

4:35 What the locals think

5:56 Motorcycle trend

7:13 Spicy hotpot and dock culture

8:15 Tourism and visa policy

10:52 Industrial city

11:12 Daka tourism

11:51 'Stool noodles'

12:27 The viral city model

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