Ahead of the May Day holiday, the Beijing News Think Tank released the 2026 Beijing News Potential Internet-Famous Cities Ranking, with eight Guangdong cities—Shantou, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Zhanjiang, and Maoming—making it into the national top 30, the highest number of any province in China. Guangdong has broken away from the public stereotype as merely a major economic and manufacturing powerhouse, achieving a collective rise of its city clusters in the cultural tourism sector.

The path for the Pearl River Deltacity cluster to become internet-famous lies in industrial clusters driving cultural and tourism consumption. The rise of the cultural tourism sector in traditional manufacturing hubs like Dongguan and Foshan is, in essence, a spillover effect of consumption upgrading following industrial transformation. Dongguan accounts for nearly a quarter of the world's production capacity of animation derivatives. Its complete industrial chain advantage in trendy toys naturally spawned cultural tourism attractions such as trendy toy theme parks. Endowed with sophisticated manufacturing capabilities, Foshan has transformed abstract Kung Fu culture into experiential and consumer-oriented cultural products, while its well-developed ingredient supply chain has further cemented its reputation as a City of Gastronomy.

Beyond infrastructure and industrial support, Guangdong's cultural tourism practice involves a systematic combination of three development strategies. For "Film and Television + Cultural Tourism," from "The Knockout"to "Dear You," cities across Guangdong have established a complete chain covering coordination with production crews, film location promotion and the development of tourism products. For "Sports Events + Cultural Tourism," following the model of the Jiangsu Super League, the Guangdong Super League and Guangdong City Basketball Leagues continue to attract young tourists. As for culinary tourism, Guangdong speaks for itself—it is the only province in China where almost every city can stand out as a tourist destination relying on its local cuisine alone.

广东，为什么这么多网红城市？

“五一”假期前夕，新京智库发布《2026新京报网红城市潜力榜》，广东8座城市（汕头、东莞、佛山、中山、珠海、惠州、湛江、茂名）挺进全国30强，总数居全国各省份之首。广东打破“经济大省”“制造强省”的大众印象，在文旅赛道上完成了城市群的集体起跳。

珠三角城市群的网红化路径是“产业集群带动文旅消费”。东莞、佛山等传统制造业强市的文旅崛起，本质上是制造业升级之后的消费能级溢出。东莞手握全球近四分之一动漫衍生品产能，全潮玩产业链优势自然催生潮玩主题乐园等文旅吸引力。佛山制造业的精细化生产能力，将抽象的功夫文化转化为可体验、可消费的产品，完善的食材供应链体系更助力擦亮“世界美食之都”的金字招牌。

广东的文旅实践，除了基建和产业的支撑，更是三张组合牌的体系化运用。“影视+文旅”，从《狂飙》到《给阿嬷的情书》，广东各地已建立起“对接剧组-规划取景地营销-延伸旅游产品”的完整链路；“赛事+文旅”，参照“苏超”，粤超、粤BA正持续拉动年轻客群；“美食+文旅”更无需多言，广东是全国唯一一个几乎所有城市都可以凭食物成为旅行目的地的省份。

文 | 记者 张健
图｜受访者供图
译｜郑书悦
英文审校｜曾敏