China saw robust travel during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday, which concluded.
According to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Transport, cross-regional trips during the holiday reached about 790 million – an average of 264 million trips per day, posting an increase of 7.1 percent over the same period last year.
Passenger trips made on road reached 730 million, with self-driving trips accounting for more than 90 percent of the total.
According to data from Chinese mobile car-hailing platform DiDi Chuxing, the demand for taxis during the holiday increased by 14 percent year on year. During peak periods, the demand exceeded 110,000 orders per minute.
Meanwhile, border inspection agencies across the country facilitated the entries and exits of 6.21 million Chinese and foreign nationals during the holiday – an average of 2.07 million people per day, posting an increase of 19.7 percent over the same period last year, said the National Immigration Administration.
Short trips and local tours also became popular choices during this holiday. According to online travel platforms, the number of orders for nearby tours increased by 136 percent, with more than 70 percent of tourists traveling for less than three days, and 44 percent choosing to travel by car.
People relax at a camping base in Yangzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, April 5, 2025. /VCG
Blooming ‘spring economy’
During the holiday, new scenarios drove consumption, providing tourists with fresh experiences. In particular, flower appreciation, outings and outdoor sports boomed, boosting the “spring economy.”
A surge in flower appreciation across the country has driven the development of urban leisure and rural tourism. Data from online travel platforms showed that the number of searches related to “flower viewing” during the holiday increased 2.2 times compared with the same period in 2024.
For example, southwest China’s Sichuan Province has launched helicopter tours to allow tourists to appreciate flowers from above.
A cherry blossom festival kicked off in east China’s Shanghai, where a romantic and enchanting atmosphere for nighttime cherry blossom viewing was created for visitors. Combining with traditional Chinese cultural activities and intangible cultural heritage displays, the festival has become a must-visit attraction for tourists.
Thanks to the sunny weather during the holiday, many outdoor camping bases became a popular destination for visitors, leading to the continued rise in the “camping fever.”
At a camping base in Wuyi County, east China’s Zhejiang Province, tourists enjoyed a variety of events provided by the base, such as meditation, boat rowing and movie watching.
A representative of the camp base told China Media Group (CMG) that the place usually receives about 5,000 to 6,000 people a day on the weekend, and it reached a small peak during the Qingming Festival holiday.
Meanwhile, “camping fever” has also boosted the production and sales of outdoor leisure products companies.
“Compared with last year, the order volume has increased by about 20 to 30 percent, and our orders are now scheduled until May,” Wang Xueming, director of a leisure product company in Zhejiang, told CMG.
While activating the vitality of traditional culture, new consumption frontiers further break boundaries and inject new impetus into the cultural and tourism market, said Shen Jiani, a senior researcher at the strategic research center of the Ctrip Research Institute.
