Between 1949 and 1976, China was closed-off to foreigners with the exception of a selected few. During that time, travel and tourism was for all intents and purposes considered a political activity. Domestic tourism hardly existed and outbound travel was limited almost exclusively to government officials. To Chairman Mao Zedong, leisure travel was considered a capitalistic bourgeois activity and therefore forbidden under Marxian principles. Turning point:
Shortly after the Chairman's death, China's most famous economic reformist, Deng Xiaoping, opened up the Middle Kingdom to outsiders. Foreign visitors quickly flocked to this once forbidden destination. Contrary to Maoist ideology, Deng saw the monetary potential in tourism and began to promote it intensely. China quickly developed its own travel industry. Major hospitality and transportation facilities were constructed or renovated. New jobs such as service personnel and professional guides were created, and a National Tourism Association was established.

Inbound:
- In 1978, an estimated 1.8 million tourists entered the country, with the majority coming from neighboring British Hong Kong, Portuguese Macau, and Taiwan.
- By 2000, China welcomed over 10 million new oversea visitors, excluding the aforementioned three locations. Tourists from Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States comprised the largest share of that inbound population.
- In 2010, China became the third most visited country in the world, international tourist arrivals to China increased to 54.7 million.

Domestic:
- During the 1990s, the Chinese central government also issued several policies to encourage the Chinese to travel domestically, as a means of stimulating consumption. - In 1999, over 700 million trips were made by domestic tourists.
- the number of domestic tourist visits increased to 1.61 billion in 2010. Outbound:
Outbound tourism by Chinese citizens recently become popular, as well. This is due to a rise in the Chinese middle-class. The pressure presented by this new class of citizens with disposable income has caused the government to ease international travel restrictions greatly.
- By the end of 1999, fourteen countries, mainly in Southeast and East Asia, were made designated overseas destinations for Chinese residents.
- Today, over a hundred countries has made it onto China's approved destination list, including the United States and many European countries.