Seoul gains from Tokyo’s pain over Lunar New Year as politics reshapes China’s tourism map

For his family’s first overseas trip together, Tang Junjie carefully planned a holiday to Japan during China’s longest Lunar New Year break on record.Flights were booked months in advance by the 22-year-old from Sichuan province, who had already made three solo visits to the neighbouring country that has long been a draw for Chinese tourists.But a sudden deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations changed everything.“The original plan was to transit through Seoul on our way to Japan,” Tang said. “But the airline couldn’t refund the tickets at the time, so we decided to stay in Seoul and not continue on to Japan.”Tang and his family were among the influx of Chinese tourists who visited Korea during the holiday period, which began on February 15 and ended on Monday.Beijing and Tokyo have been embroiled in a diplomatic dispute since November, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Tokyo could respond militarily to a potential attack on the island. In response, Beijing has advised citizens to avoid travelling to Japan.