{"id":588245,"date":"2026-08-18T09:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/588245\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:04:09","slug":"why-chinese-tourists-are-paying-for-disaster-experiences-in-the-name-of-dark-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/588245\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Chinese Tourists Are Paying For ‘Disaster Experiences’ In The Name Of Dark Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0unique trend of “dark tourism” is gaining popularity in China, where young adventurers pay to experience extreme, simulated natural disasters, the South China Morning Post (SCMP)<\/a> reported. While dark tourism traditionally involves visiting historical sites of tragedy or catastrophe, this modern variation claims to offer practical survival training.<\/p>\n

One major attraction driving the trend is the Lvxing Base in Hangzhou. Founded by well-known Chinese explorers Zhang Xinyu and Liang Hong, it is widely recognised as the country’s first immersive disaster-simulation hub.<\/p>\n

The facility allows participants to brave harsh environments, featuring artificial typhoons with wind speeds reaching up to 165 kilometres per hour, severe downpours, and sudden urban flash floods.<\/p>\n

Also read | Woman Calls Herself ‘Mother’ Of An AI Child Named Lumen, Video Baffles Internet<\/a><\/p>\n

Before entering the simulations, visitors wear protective thermal suits and helmets. They are then guided by trained instructors through real-time rescue protocols and disaster response techniques.<\/p>\n

According to the report, individual adult passes cost 899 yuan (approximately US$135), while family packages priced at nearly 5,000 yuan offer specialised water rescue and wilderness survival drills for children aged six to fourteen.<\/p>\n

As per local reports, the Lvxing Base can generate winds of up to 165 km\/hour. The organisers also take care of safety, with personnel monitoring the events to assist anyone in distress.<\/p>\n

Participants describe the experience as intensely realistic. During flood scenarios, water surges into underground spaces, creating genuine panic and forcing visitors to rely on teamwork to navigate the environment safely.<\/p>\n

“The suffocating fear made me forget I was merely ‘experiencing’ a disaster,” a thrill seeker told Vista Hydrogen Business.<\/p>\n

Also read | He Failed JEE Twice. What He Learnt On YouTube Now Earns Him Rs 2 Lakh Every Month<\/a><\/p>\n

The report further mentioned that Lvxing Base has attracted over 160,000 visits since opening in late 2024.<\/p>\n

Stats clearly show that the trend has become popular off-late; however, it has also sparked debates over whether commercialising disaster experiences dilutes the serious nature of real-life tragedies.<\/p>\n

“Disaster experience centres are a valuable way to teach survival skills, especially as more young people are willing to pay to ‘suffer,'” an online user said as quoted by SCMP.<\/p>\n

“For those who have actually lived through floods and lost their homes, does transforming disaster into an experience risk trivialising their suffering?” another argued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u00a0unique trend of “dark tourism” is gaining popularity in China, where young adventurers pay to experience extreme, simulated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1657,266100,242,85,46,141,266101],"class_list":["post-588245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-china","tag-dark-tourism","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-what-is-dark-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}