SHANGHAI, CHINA: More Chinese women are choosing to be “road trip aunties” as a way to gain independence and challenge traditional expectations, largely driven by rising financial independence and the influence of the “she economy.”
A report from Canvas8 revealed that 98 per cent of financially capable Chinese women perceive travel to define personal happiness rather than letting society dictate it.
Sixty-eight travel to experience freedom from life obligations, while 83 per cent say they feel their “true self” when travelling solo or with friends instead of family.
The report, Why Chinese Women Feel Empowered to Travel Solo, was authored by Jelou Galang and features insights from Shanghai-based Genie Yip, a veteran in Hong Kong and China’s digital marketing scene, and Austria-based Sinologist and China marketing professional Anna Pupi.
According to Ms Pupi, digital platforms like Xiaohongshu, which means Little Red Book but now more widely known as Red Note amid the TikTok ban, highlight how “highly educated women are at the forefront of this shift in self-narrative.”
She explained, “They’re rejecting the traditional view of women as the ‘weaker sex’. Solo travel, once seen as unconventional, has now become a powerful expression of this evolving identity, allowing women to visibly assert their independence, resilience, and strength.”
In 2022, China revised its Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Law to stress the need for women to “respect family values,” leaving them pressured to prioritise domestic roles. That year, the birth rate was only 6.77 per 1,000 people, down from 7.52 from the year before. In response, the government introduced policies and programmes to encourage women to start families.
By 2023, Hangzhou began offering RMB 20,000 (around S$3,717) to families having a third child, while Wenzhou provided subsidies of up to RMB 3,000 (S$558) per child. In some cases, government workers called women to urge them to have children.
A key factor behind the rise in solo travel is the growing wealth of women in China, projected to reach US$27 trillion (over S$36 trillion) by 2026.
While it is unsurprising that the solo travel trend is most apparent in wealthier circles, Ms Pupi explained that technological, social, and economic factors, including increased wealth and new travel hotspots in Asia, have driven the solo travel trend among affluent circles.
Ms Pupi noted that affluent, only-child daughters, shaped by China’s economic growth and one-child policy, are raised by their parents to focus on personal growth empowering them “to explore life beyond traditional boundaries.”
Ms Yip added that others tend to seek experiences their parents couldn’t have, contributing to the “she economy.”
“Educated women, especially those who’ve studied abroad, have more means of selecting where to travel to, and what to do and eat in places. With their curiosity and eagerness to break norms, they see travel experiences as decisions they make to broaden their horizons,” she said.
She also added that more women are now choosing not to marry, with 44 per cent of urban young women saying they have no plans to tie the knot.
Ms Pupi further explained that the growing popularity of dāzi relationships—companionships formed around shared interests such as travel—has offered Chinese women more freedom and less emotional commitment, allowing them to find companions with similar passions. /TISG
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