ABSTRACT This cross-cultural study of international tourists' main destination choices (MDCs) within China's three major gateway cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – adds to the literature in two respects. First, a cognitive ‘cultural distance’ variable, formed from cultural constructs perceived by the respondents was used to underpin the comparative framework in addition to usually applied cultural proxies, such as nationality, in cross-cultural studies. A discreet choice modelling approach is used to address the operational challenges of incorporating behavioural elements in choice analysis. The research findings support the international gateway positions of Beijing and Shanghai, but that of Guangzhou is questioned. The research also revealed that, although both of the two types of cultural variables are related to the MDCs of the tourists, the level of significance of ‘cultural distance’ and ‘cultural proxies’ at expressing the differences of tourists' MDCs within a destination country are not parallel. The former appeared to be a more sensitive element in determining the behavioural patterns of international tourists than the latter. Geographical distance and demographic characteristics show no significant interrelationship with the MDCs of international tourists within a destination country.