SHENZHEN, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- At Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen's mega electronics marketplace, Bryan Lamothe-Arice wove his way through a maze of shops packed with everything from electronic components to the latest consumer products.

Lamothe-Arice, an American tourist visiting with his family, showed up with a pretty simple shopping list. He just wanted a pair of wireless headphones for the gym. But it didn't take long before all sorts of other gadgets caught his eye.

"I'm also very interested in the e-bikes, scooters, cameras and drones here," he said.

Lamothe-Arice is part of a growing stream of international visitors exploring Shenzhen, a tech hub in south China's Guangdong Province adjacent to Hong Kong.

As China has made entry easier for foreign travelers, visitors are coming to the city not only for its traditional attractions, but also for a chance to experience technologies that still feel futuristic elsewhere.

Drones zip across city blocks, delivering meals to doorsteps. On factory floors, humanoid robots are put to the test. Streets buzz with electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence (AI) is integrated ever deeper into manufacturing, healthcare and urban services.

Once a fishing village, Shenzhen became one of China's first special economic zones and has evolved over the past four decades into a global hub for innovation and advanced manufacturing. It is home to tech heavyweights such as Huawei, Tencent, BYD, DJI and UBTECH, along with a vibrant community of startups spanning sectors from AI to new energy.

At the heart of all this is Huaqiangbei, home to more than 115,000 commercial entities and 35 specialized markets, serving as a major destination for Shenzhen's high-tech experiences.

Nearly 8,000 foreign buyers visited Huaqiangbei on an average day this year, according to local government data. From January through July, sales of AI products surged more than 55 percent from a year earlier in the area. Sales of AI glasses doubled, while sales of drones and robots climbed by 60 to 70 percent during the same period.

Xiao Wenlong, a longtime vendor there, said foreign customers have become noticeably more common this year. "For them, the products here offer great value for money," Xiao said. "Most come with their families as tourists and pick up products while they're here."

Janwick Hattingh, a visitor from South Africa, bought a power bank. He also had his Apple computer and his daughter's watch repaired during his visit.

"It's quite advanced here," he said. "You can find any tech product you can think of."

But the appeal of Shenzhen's technology is increasingly moving beyond the shelves of electronics markets.

At a DJI flagship store in the city, Marta Cerrolaza, who runs a winery in Spain, was studying agricultural drones with a practical question in mind: Could they work in her vineyards back home?

Cerrolaza said DJI was well known in Spain for its cameras and drones, adding that she hoped to use its drones at her winery and transform it into a high-tech winery.

Wang Linlin, a staff member at the DJI store, said overseas customers accounted for about 40 percent of orders over the past two weeks, with many visitors coming from Europe and South America.

Elsewhere in Shenzhen, the technology visitors can experience is proving even more popular than the products they can purchase.

At a robot 6S store in Longgang District, billed as the world's first of its kind, Jamaican tourist Daniela and her friends tried robot combat games before eating at a restaurant staffed entirely by robots.

"What amazed me most was the humanoid robot. It has a lot of joints and can move very well," said Daniela. "I really look forward to having a service robot like that at home to read bedtime stories and cook meals for me."

More than 5 million foreign entries and exits were recorded through Shenzhen as of early August this year, surpassing that mark 58 days earlier than last year, according to border inspection data.

Zhang Bin, a product manager with a Shenzhen-based travel agency named "Century Holiday," said the company's inbound tourism business has grown by about 30 percent year on year since last month, bolstered by new offerings including family technology tours, visits to industrial sites and customized small-group programs.

The interest comes at a moment when travel to China for foreigners is becoming easier and international perceptions of the country are showing signs of shifting.

A July survey by the Pew Research Center found that a median of 46 percent of respondents across the 20 countries surveyed annually since 2023 held a favorable view of China, up from 32 percent in 2023.

China has also expanded visa-free access. It now offers unilateral visa-free entry to nationals of 50 countries. Nationals from 55 countries can utilize the 240-hour visa-free transit program to enter China via 65 designated ports.

Shenzhen has sought to remove some of the practical obstacles that once made traveling in China difficult for foreign visitors.

In 2024, it introduced a service allowing overseas bank cards to be linked directly to payment platforms such as WeChat. Departure tax refunds are available at six air, land and sea ports.

The city is preparing for a much larger international spotlight. China will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen in November, which marks the country's third time hosting the event following Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.

A city once known for making products for the rest of the world is increasingly drawing people from around the world who want to see where those products and the technologies behind them come from.

Some want to take home more than just photographs. Gabriel Ferreira Pedrosa, a visitor from Brazil, hoped to take a piece of Shenzhen's future with him -- a humanoid robot.

"We want to buy a humanoid robot here and put it in our company," he said.