The Ministry of Culture and Tourism released data on the 9th that during the seven-day National Day holiday, 826 million domestic trips were made across the country.
Behind the surging crowds, travel patterns are also changing. There are only 3 working days between the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day. The ‘Take 3 days off and 13 days’ 의 holiday plan makes this holiday up to 13 days. As the holidays get longer, young people are no longer obsessed with ‘where to go’ when traveling, but more concerned with ‘how to play’. ‘Localized experience’ has become the most moving scenery of this holiday.
Live like a local
‘I don’t want to go to a crowded internet celebrity check-in place, so I want to find a small town that is not too popular and live like a local for a few days. ’ During the National Day holiday, Beijing white-collar worker Lin Wan (pseudonym) and her husband chose Zhanjiang, Guangdong as their destination. After landing, rent a car and drive yourself, stop and go, and travel as you please.
What impressed her most was a seaside fishing village she drove into by chance. In the evening, the fishermen collect their boats and return to the shore, arrange their fishing nets, and sit on the shore in twos and threes to watch the sunset after finishing their busy day. The adults chatted while the children dug in the sand. ‘We held up the camera to take pictures, and turned around to find that the local villagers were also watching the same sunset quietly. That moment was particularly touching. It turned out that they were also very romantic at heart. ’ Lin Wan said.
In Wuchuan City under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang, she accidentally walked into a small shop selling lion dance supplies. Lion heads, gongs, drums, and colorful flags were piled high, and the master sat at the door to pierce the lion's head, with bamboo strips flying in his hands, 'like walking into a real-life version of "The Young Lion"'.
Lin Wan also walked into the local vegetable market and seafood pier: vendors neatly stacked freshly landed fish and shrimp, children chased lobsters on the ground, and fishermen squatted beside the boat to repair their fishing nets. She recorded them one by one with her camera, "Every shot will look good, because it is a real and warm scene."
During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, tourists’ footprints are extending from traditional popular cities to county areas, and the pace of travel has also shifted from ‘catch the attractions’ to ‘slow life’. Tuniu data shows that "localized travel" that focuses on relaxation and comfort is on the rise, and small city tours and "county tours" have become new growth points for tourism consumption; Meituan data shows that visits to entertainment locations in third-tier and below cities increased by 258% compared with before the holiday, and the growth rate is about that of first- and second-tier cities. 1.9 times, the number of views of the ‘Local Recommendation List’ increased by nearly 300%, 64% of which came from third-tier and below cities; Qunar data shows that during the Double Festival, the popularity of county hotel bookings increased by 35% year-on-year, and platform users stayed in hotels in more than a thousand counties across the country. More and more people are willing to live in their favorite small town, like Lin Wan, to ‘experience the local customs and find the feeling of living there’.
From spectator to participant
During the National Day holiday, Zhou Yue (pseudonym), a post-00s girl, flew from Beijing to Jiangxi with three friends. They used AI tools to string together the scenic spots they wanted to visit into a small loop. After landing, they rented a car and drove themselves, starting an in-depth tour.
Zhou Yue had many reasons for choosing Jiangxi. She wanted to go into the Lushan Mountain in the textbook and explore the reason why the poet left his famous poem here; go to Huangling Mountain in Wuyuan to take photos of the autumn scenery with red peppers and yellow corn covering the eaves; experience the unique atmosphere of Wangxian Valley's "Tian Shang Market" and Gexian Village's "Thousand Lanterns" in the short video.
In the majestic and dangerous scenery of Lushan Mountain, she understood why this mountain has been praised by poets again and again. Especially when the fog covered the mountains, she more truly understood the artistic conception of Su Shi's poem "Inscribed on the Wall of the Western Forest". ‘Only when we arrive at the place where the poem took place can we truly understand the state of mind of the ancients at that time. ’ Zhou Yue sighed.
In Gexian Village, many tourists put on ancient costumes and shuttled back and forth. In the streets and alleys, face-changing and ancient colorful tricks are performed in turn; after nightfall, iron flowers splash like stars, and water curtains interplay with light and shadow. What shocked her the most was the Thousand Lantern Festival: thousands of Kongming lanterns rose into the night sky, lighting up the night; fireworks bloomed above the head, like a dream. ‘The scene was more shocking than the video. ’ she sighed. She and her friends put up lanterns to pray for blessings, interacted with NPCs (characters played by staff in the scenic area and interact with tourists - reporter's note), played mini-games with the banknotes they earned, and exchanged them for cultural and creative souvenirs. She still had endless fun.
This type of immersive experience has become a hot spot for consumption. Fliggy data shows that ticket bookings for scenic spots with character interaction or immersive experience have increased by 60% year-on-year; Ctrip data shows that cultural scenic spots account for about 48% of the scenic spot booking orders for tourists aged 20-25. Tourists are changing from spectators to participants.
‘Learn a trade’ while traveling
‘Study-style travel’ is also a highlight of the National Day holiday tourism market. Data from Meituan shows that in the three days before the National Day holiday, searches for 'coffee making experience' increased by 65% year-on-year, and 'clay sculpture and pottery courses' increased by 84%. Data from Fliggy shows that the number of bookings for intangible cultural heritage handicraft experiences and sightseeing products doubled year-on-year. Learning to make Huizhou ink, learning silver jewelry forging from intangible cultural heritage inheritors in Guizhou, and experiencing Li rattan and bamboo weaving in Hainan are favored by young people.
In Jingdezhen, Zhou Yue and her companions experienced pottery making. She personally fired a 6-inch porcelain soup basin and participated in the entire process of kneading clay and coloring. ‘It only costs more than 100 yuan to experience pottery with a consumer coupon, and it will be dried and delivered to your home with free shipping. Every time I use it in the future, I can think of this trip, which is very memorable. ’ she said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday coincides with the 2026 National Day Cultural and Tourism Consumption Month. Focusing on experiential scenarios such as nighttime cultural tourism, intangible cultural heritage food, study tours, and cultural museum special exhibitions, various regions have issued more than 310 million yuan in consumer coupons and subsidies, covering the entire cultural and tourism chain such as scenic spot tickets, hotel accommodation, intangible cultural heritage food, cultural museums, cultural creations, and transportation. The policy is intended to use real money to reduce travel costs, and use experience scenarios to guide consumption upgrades, so that more people are willing to come out, stay and play.
Zhou Yue truly feels the benefits brought by cultural tourism coupons. During the trip, she and her companions used coupons to place orders through the platform when booking hotels, dining, purchasing tickets, and experiencing cultural tourism projects, saving about 1,000 yuan per person. ‘Not only are the prices favorable, but it’s also convenient to place orders using coupons. ’ she said.
From ‘where have I been’ to ‘what have I really experienced’, young people are redefining the meaning of travel in their own way. As the boundaries between tourism and daily life become increasingly blurred, the county market continues to expand, and the vitality of cultural tourism consumption is also constantly being released in ‘localized’ encounters.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Xia Jin
