More than halfway through 2026, an increasing number of South Korean celebrities, variety show production teams and leading YouTubers are turning their cameras toward Guangdong in southern China. In late May, South Korean actor Ahn Jae-hyun filmed the documentary "Nevertheless, We Set Off" at Canton Tower and Beijing Road in Guangzhou. Around the same time, a production team with a KBS background arrived in Guangdong to shoot an experiential travel variety show tentatively titled "Gulliver's Travels".

Statistics show that about 3.16 million South Korean tourists visited the Chinese mainland in 2025. In January 2026 alone, approximately 303,000 South Koreans traveled to China, representing a 48.1% year-on-year increase. Yuanjing Road Korean Commercial Street in Guangzhou's Baiyun District, which organically developed into a Korean business community in the late 1990s, has now transformed into an international specialty commercial district with annual revenue of about 8 billion yuan, home to more than 120 Korean restaurants.

Behind Guangdong's growing popularity among South Korean visitors is the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism's systematic promotion strategy. In June, the department led leading travel agencies from across the province to participate in the 41st Seoul International Travel Fair. During the same period, it worked with the China National Tourist Office in Seoul to launch a Guangdong tourism promotion page on a leading South Korean web portal, accompanied by interactive marketing campaigns such as prize draws for travelers visiting Guangdong. The next step will be to place tourism advertisements for Guangdong's cultural tourism in major commercial districts and transportation hubs in core cities including Seoul.

Commissioning South Korean micro-documentaries and inviting South Korean celebrity teams to film in Guangdong have become the most innovative components of this promotional campaign. Rather than passively waiting for visitors to come, Guangdong is proactively putting the camera into South Korean hands, enabling leading South Korean production teams to tell Guangdong's story from their perspective and reach local audiences through South Korea's own media channels.

韩国人开始钟情于“打卡”广东

2026年过半，越来越多的韩国艺人、综艺制作团队和头部YouTuber，正将镜头对准中国南端的广东。5月底，韩国演员安宰贤在广州塔和北京路拍摄纪录片《尽管如此，仍然出发》；韩国KBS背景的制作团队也进驻广东，拍摄体验式旅行综艺《格列佛游记》(暂定名）。

数据显示，2025年前往中国大陆的韩国游客约为316万人次，仅2026年1月，韩国访华人数就达到约30.3万人次，同比增长48.1%。广州白云区的远景路韩国风情街，从上世纪90年代末起自发形成韩商聚居区，如今已蝶变为年营收约80亿元的国际化特色街区，聚集超过120家韩国特色餐饮店。

这波“广东热”背后，也是广东省文化和旅游厅的系统化布局。6月，广东省文旅厅携省内重点旅行社赴韩国首尔参加第41届首尔国际旅游展；同期，广东省文旅厅与驻首尔旅游办事处联手，在韩国知名门户网站搭建广东旅游专区，开展“赴粤旅游打卡抽奖”等互动营销活动。下一步，还计划在首尔等核心城市的商圈及交通枢纽投放广东文旅形象广告。

采购韩国微纪录片、邀请韩国艺人团队来粤拍摄，正是这套组合拳中最具创新性的一招。不是被动地“等客来”，而是主动地“把镜头递过去”，让韩国顶级制作团队用韩国人的视角讲述广东故事，再通过韩国本土的传播渠道触达韩国观众。

文、图丨记者 杭莹
翻译丨郑书悦
审校丨曾敏