China's New "Travel Trio": Medical Tourism Going Viral Overseas

Traveling to China has become the hottest topic on social media over the past year. The "China travel trio" (三件套) has even undergone two iterations among foreign travelers.

The Evolution of China's Travel Trio

Originally, foreign bloggers visiting China had three must-visit items on their checklist: mobile payments, high-speed rail, and hotel robots.

In the past six months, however, the new "China travel trio" for foreign visitors has become: dentistry, ophthalmology, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapy.

Under TikTok's "Medical Tourism" hashtag, countless foreigners are preparing to come to China for medical treatment. Their must-visit destinations now include Grade A tertiary hospitals.

The Medical Tourism Boom

The statistics speak for themselves:

• Shenzhen: In 2024, the city provided 770,000 medical services to overseas visitors, including 640,000 from Hong Kong and Macau, with the rest coming from the US, Canada, Japan, and other countries.
• Shanghai: Thirteen designated hospitals treated nearly 270,000 foreign patients, a 15% year-on-year increase.
• National: According to the National Health Commission's 2025 foreign medical service report, key hospitals treating international patients saw 1.28 million visits—a 73.6% increase from three years ago.

Coming to China for tourism combined with medical care is becoming a viral trend overseas.

Why Foreigners Choose China: Affordability

The primary reason foreigners come to China for medical care is simple: it's incredibly affordable.

In viral TikTok videos about seeking medical treatment in China, the question in the comments is always the same: "How much does it cost to see a doctor in China?"

When Chinese medical fees are converted to US dollars, the contrast becomes striking:

• Heart checkup: $75.40 in China vs. $10,000–$20,000 without insurance in the US
• X-ray: $19 in China—so cheap that foreigners joke it costs less than a toy doctor kit from a supermarket
• Ambulance + blood test + examination + treatment: $144 total in China. In the US, ambulance rides alone start at $30,000–$50,000

After watching several videos, one thing becomes clear: it's not that medical care in China is so cheap—it's that medical care in the US is astronomically expensive.

Some foreign patients report paying $2,400 for a CT scan, or $4,000 for X-rays plus MRI. One person complained about twisting their lower back, sitting in an emergency room for a while, having a doctor press on it twice, getting some painkillers, and then receiving a $15,000 bill (approximately RMB 104,000). Another spent $50,000 (RMB 347,000) on pneumonia hospitalization.

In contrast, seeing a doctor in China costs less than a medium order of french fries at a fast-food restaurant.

Foreign patients have even calculated the complete cost of cross-border medical tourism—including airfare, accommodation, and recovery—and found that even surgical procedures cost less than one-third of what they would pay in Europe or America.

The Second Appeal: Efficiency

Beyond affordability, the other major factor attracting foreign patients is efficiency.

The viral trend of cross-border medical treatment traces back to British influencer Amy's TikTok video about seeking medical care in China.

Amy had suffered from stomach problems for nearly two years. Her family doctor couldn't diagnose the specific issue, and she was constantly stuck in her country's complex healthcare system when trying to see a specialist. Not wanting to wait until her condition worsened, she decided to come to China. Before leaving, she had already considered worst-case scenarios, including whether to stay in China if chemotherapy was needed.

The result? On her first day in Beijing, Amy learned she simply had a stomach ulcer.

Overseas netizens in the comments empathized deeply. One person in the UK waited three months for test results and another month just to discuss them with a doctor. Many complained about lingering health issues that had gone untreated for years—essentially becoming chronic due to delayed care.

In many countries, simply getting an appointment to see a doctor takes a long time. Common outpatient procedures require waiting at least a month for appointments. Major surgeries like joint replacements need 8–9 months of waiting time. In China, the same surgery can be completed and patients discharged in about a month.

The "China Speed" Medical Experience

The most common感叹 from foreigners is the efficiency of China's medical system.

Viral videos about seeking medical care in China often start with: "I didn't even make an appointment."

Real examples from these videos:

• 2:00 PM: Register at the hospital
• 2:07 PM: See the doctor (just 7 minutes later)
• <2.5 hours later: Complete 9 health check items and receive the report in the hospital lobby

Every detail about medical care in China sparks discussion on TikTok, mostly focused on吐槽 of their own countries' healthcare systems:

• "Wait over 10 hours—by the time the doctor comes, the fever has gone away on its own"
• "Waited a month to see a doctor, and they just said I'm young and it's not a big deal"

Combining affordability and efficiency, Chinese hospitals have become a lifeline for many foreigners.

The New "China Travel Trio": Dental, Optical, TCM

Overseas, the common hashtag for seeking medical care in China is #withoutinsurance.

Medical costs being a major cause of middle-class bankruptcy globally has made most foreign netizens especially sensitive to "insurance coverage."

Dental care falls into a coverage gap. Most countries' mainstream insurance doesn't cover dental reimbursement, and even when welfare programs exist, they only cover cleaning and basic checkups.

In other words, dental treatments are equally expensive worldwide.

However, when overseas netizens convert Chinese bills to US dollars, China becomes a price valley for dental treatment. The story of $15 teeth cleaning has spread virally across the internet.

So "visa-free travel to China" has a new extension: stop by the dentist.

Foreigners' fixed China itinerary used to be: visit attractions, eat delicious food, ride shared bikes.

Now it's: play around for a while, then go to the dentist. If they find a cavity during cleaning, they can get it filled on the spot for nearly $20. For the entire trip, this one item alone pays for the airfare.

Years ago, foreigners already flew to China specifically for wisdom tooth extraction and dental implants. Now, more are discovering that teeth cleaning in China costs just the price of a fast-food meal.

Even more cost-conscious foreigners will get a new pair of glasses during their trip, complete with a free vision exam. Then they experience TCM therapy, treating moxibustion, acupuncture, and pulse diagnosis as important experiences of their China journey.

Who Comes to China for Medical Tourism?

Foreigners seeking cross-border medical care in China can be broadly divided into two categories:

1. Those with clear medical goals or planned regular health checkups
2. Those who treat dental, optical, and TCM as part of their China tourism experience

From the viral "China travel trio," we can see that foreigners coming to China for medical care mostly aren't seeking treatment for complex or rare diseases. They want to address common conditions like cardiovascular issues, skin problems, joint surgeries, stomach ailments, or simply routine health checkups—finding affordable alternatives for originally expensive medical procedures.

The profile of these medical tourists is consistent: mostly middle-class with fixed incomes who can afford cross-border travel. Just as some go to Korea for cosmetic procedures or hunt for luxury goods and skincare abroad, "medical tourism" is essentially a value-seeking option for foreign middle-class travelers to China.

The emergence of this new "China travel trio" coincides with a broader trend: in an era of consumption downgrading, global middle classes are pursuing value for money.

Will This Crowd Out Medical Resources?

A controversial question persists: Does foreigners coming to China for medical care crowd out resources for local patients?

Medical resources are fundamentally different from general commodities or cosmetic procedures, and resource allocation has always been a hot topic.

However, the concern about foreigners crowding out medical resources is unlikely to become reality for several reasons:

1. Regulatory caps: According to Beijing's 2021 regulations on international medical services, international medical departments as special services in public hospitals must not exceed 10% of total hospital services.
2. Independent operation: International departments operate independently, and foreign patients don't have Chinese medical insurance.
3. Premium pricing: Compared to Chinese patients, foreigners pay higher registration and treatment fees. International medical department registration fees are 6–12 times higher than domestic outpatient clinics, while examination and hospitalization fees are 8–12 times higher.

Rather than crowding out resources, this is more like a new revenue stream for China's medical system.

New Opportunities

As the wave of foreigners seeking medical care expands, international medical service departments are also growing.

For example, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital's International Medical Department has built a multilingual volunteer team of 86 people covering 15 languages, providing full-process assistance to foreign patients.

Where volunteers can't cover, rich employment opportunities are hidden. Just as elderly and solitary patients in China need medical companions, foreign patients also need foreign-speaking medical companions for assistance.

As foreign patients increase, foreign language majors are seeing new employment opportunities.

Moreover, the other side of medical opening up is resource introduction. The Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, leveraging Hainan Free Trade Port's "zero tariff" policy on imported medical devices, can use international advanced drugs and medical devices not yet available in other parts of China. This covers critical treatment areas like oncology, cardiology, hematology, and ophthalmology.

This has strong appeal to foreign patients with rare diseases or needing special treatments, while also providing a nearby new option for domestic patients with similar needs.

The Future of Medical Tourism in China

It's clear that China has already begun operating medical tourism as a professional, market-oriented service. What's certain is this: every wave of change brings corresponding transformation.

Providing cross-border medical services is just the beginning.

Source: This article is based on reporting from Phoenix WEEKLY. Original Chinese article available at Phoenix WEEKLY.