In China, Rocket Launches Fuel Tourism and Space-Age Dreams

On a hot August night, thousands of people gathered on the beaches of Hainan island in China. They held up their phones and waited for a rocket launch from the nearby Wenchang Space Launch Site. When the Long March 7A rocket blasted off just after 8 p.m., the crowd cheered loudly as the night sky lit up. The launch was more than just a science event — it was also a vacation experience for families and tourists from across the country.

A few moments after liftoff, the rocket unexpectedly exploded in midair. Chinese state media confirmed the failure a few hours later. But many people in the crowd did not realize what had gone wrong. The fiery explosion looked so spectacular that people cheered anyway, shouting 'Wow!' into the night.

One tourist watching the launch was Fu Jinhua, a 38-year-old man from Guangdong province in southern China. He even brought along his pet parrot, Yangzai, to enjoy the moment. Fu said he thought the trip was a great way to experience something exciting. He believes that in 10 to 20 years, regular Chinese people may be able to travel to space just like riding a high-speed train.

China's space program was once kept secret and operated in faraway deserts. Now, launches are open for the public to watch as China speeds up its goals in a space race with the United States. China plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and later send a crewed mission to Mars. Since its first rocket launch in 1960, China has reached many big milestones, including sending its first astronaut to space in 2003, completing a spacewalk in 2008, and finishing its own space station in 2022.

Space excitement has spread into everyday life across China. It shows up in movies, museum exhibits, and popular tourist spots. In Inner Mongolia, a region in northern China, visitors can explore the Wulanhada Volcano Geological Park. The black volcanic rock there looks so much like Mars that people rent white or pink spacesuit costumes to take photos against the rocky landscape.

Tumuse, a 50-year-old shop owner at the park, rents out the spacesuit costumes. She used to charge 80 to 100 yuan (about $12 to $15) per costume, but prices have dropped to around 20 yuan as more sellers have joined the market. She used to be a sheep herder and opened her rental business in 2022 after photos of college students in spacesuits at the park went viral on social media. Her story shows how space tourism is creating new businesses for ordinary people.

In Beijing, the space theme has also inspired art. In the Songzhuang art district, a giant sculpture of a sleeping female astronaut sits in an open lot. The sculpture is called 'Resonance' and was created by Yang Wanting, a 33-year-old artist and science fiction author. The astronaut in the sculpture is a character named Chen Zilan, who goes on a journey through the universe 100 years in the future.

Yang said her love for space started in 2003, when she was a child and watched Yang Liwei become China's first person in space. She remembered her grandfather, who normally talked only about food or made jokes, asking her to sit and watch the TV coverage with him. 'It felt like all other activities were cancelled,' she said. That memory stayed with her because of the closeness she felt with her grandfather in that moment.

Across Beijing at Shougang Park — a former steel mill that was turned into a cultural park — a giant colorful sculpture of a toy astronaut doll called 'Space Molly' stands tall. It was made by the popular toy company Pop Mart and draws many visitors who stop to take photos. For many Chinese people, space is no longer something found only in official news reports or science-fiction movies. It can now be found at the beach, in a public park, or even from an ice cream cart.