During the five-day May Day holiday, Chinese travelers took an estimated 314 million domestic trips, marking a 6.4 percent increase from the previous year.
Tourist spending also saw a notable rise, reaching 180.3 billion yuan (roughly 25 billion U.S. dollars), an 8 percent year-on-year jump that highlights the sustained vitality of consumer activity.
Passengers prepare to board a train at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 1, 2025. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)
The May Day holiday, running from May 1 to 5, is typically one of the busiest travel periods of the year. During this time, millions of Chinese travelers hit the road to visit family, explore domestic destinations, or venture abroad. This surge in travel provides a boost to the transportation, tourism and retail sectors.
Highways were jammed, train tickets sold out within minutes, and major tourist destinations overflowed with visitors, reflecting a strong resurgence in consumer enthusiasm in the world's second-largest economy.
As night fell, the energy remained high. In Guangxi, local governments hosted nighttime carnivals, dazzling light shows, and open-air concerts aimed at revitalizing the nightlife scene and encouraging people to stay out longer and spend more.
An aerial drone photo shows traffic flows on the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, May 5, 2025. (Photo by Yang Suping/Xinhua)
Nationally recognized nighttime cultural and tourism zones registered nearly 76 million visits during the holiday, up 5.2 percent from a year ago, according to figures released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
This push to diversify the holiday experience wasn't limited to nighttime attractions. Across the country, local governments and tourism operators embraced technology to enhance convenience and comfort for the millions of travelers on the move.
In the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, an AI-powered peak-avoidance system helped visitors plan their routes more efficiently by analyzing real-time traffic and crowd data across the city's major attractions.
In Sichuan's Qingcheng Mountain scenic area, visitors encountered robotic exoskeletons designed to make trekking easier, along with drone delivery services that transported snacks and supplies to mountains.
