Yunnan is positioning itself as a destination not only for tourism, but also for long-term living and entrepreneurship, as the southwestern Chinese province recorded sharp growth in overnight international visitors and long-stay residents in 2025, Governor Wang Yubo said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a briefing on Yunnan's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), Wang said the province is looking to attract more people to "travel, settle and start businesses" in Yunnan, as improving living environments and lifestyle appeal reshape the province's tourism economy.

Yunnan received 8.64 million inbound tourist visits in 2025, up 30 percent year-on-year, according to official data.

Among them, overnight inbound visitors rose 51.8 percent to 4.95 million, outpacing overall growth and signaling rising demand for deeper travel experiences.

The province also saw a surge in long-stay visitors, locally referred to as "sojourners".

More than 5.5 million people chose to live temporarily in Yunnan last year, up 41.4 percent year-on-year, with an average stay of 83 days.

"Many visitors came as tourists but stayed on because they fell in love with the place, becoming new residents of Yunnan," Wang said.

He attributed the trend partly to sweeping improvements in urban and rural living conditions in recent years. According to Wang, all counties, cities and districts in Yunnan now meet national sanitary standards, while all natural villages have reached the top-tier standard for rural living environments.

"With better environments and more beautiful cities and villages, tourists from across China and around the world are flocking to Yunnan," he said.

Earlier this year, Alexandra Solovey, a 46-year-old tourist from the United States, visited Kunming with her husband and daughter. She said the pleasant weather, local cuisine, friendly residents and sense of safety made Yunnan "a fantastic destination".

Among those choosing to stay longer is Zhang Boai, a 35-year-old former flight attendant from Beijing. After traveling across Lijiang, Dali, Kunming, Pu'er and Xishuangbanna in mid-2025, Zhang and her husband relocated to a village in Pu'er with their 3-year-old son later that year.

"I want my son to have a happy childhood close to nature, where he can play freely," Zhang said.

The long-stay trend is also giving rise to new business models.

In Laozhuaqing village in Pu'er, 32-year-old Ying Xixi from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, has launched a digital nomad community, offering shared workspaces for remote workers.

Since opening in late February, the site has already hosted dozens of digital nomads.

"Yunnan has rich resources, diverse ethnic cultures and a great climate, which are all attractive to entrepreneurs like us," Ying said, adding that she hopes for more supportive policies for startup communities and lifestyle-based businesses.

Wang said the province plans to expand policy support, diversify business scenarios and cultivate more sectors suited to lifestyle entrepreneurship. Yunnan also aims to build a number of "cities of entrepreneurship" and "cities of thriving industries" to attract more innovators and business founders.

The growing sojourn economy is already bringing tangible benefits to rural communities.

Yan Di, Party branch secretary of Manhena village in Xishuangbanna, said long-stay tourism has increased significantly since 2024. Last year, the village received more than 10,000 sojourn visitors, many staying for more than 10 days at a time.

The village, home to 109 households and 486 residents, reported an average household income of 80,000 yuan ($11,780) last year, with tourism contributing more than 60 percent.

"Life is steadily getting better," Yan said.

In Lijiang's Yulong county, 57-year-old Fan Hongyan, originally from Xiangxi in Hunan province, opened a guesthouse in September after traveling to more than 50 countries.

"The first time I came here, I was deeply captivated by the scenery and environment," she said. "I knew this was where I wanted to live."