Long-distance travel is set to surge during China's nine-day 2026 Spring Festival holiday, according to data from major online travel platforms following the release of China’s public holiday schedule.
China's State Council released the 2026 public holiday schedule on Tuesday, setting the Spring Festival holiday from February 15 to February 23, 2026, for a total of nine days.
Latest data from online travel platforms shows that searches for "2026 Spring Festival" and "long-distance travel" have more than doubled since the announcement of the holiday schedule. Many platform users are no longer satisfied with short trips or single-destination travel, instead planning combined domestic and international itineraries or in-depth, slow-paced tours in single destinations.
As of Wednesday, the most popular domestic destinations for the nine-day holiday include Harbin City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sanya City in south China's Hainan Province, Xi'an City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, Chengdu City in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Hangzhou City in east China's Zhejiang Province, Xiamen and Fuzhou cities in southeast China's Fujian Province.
The nine-day holiday in 2026 is expected to set record highs in travel popularity, including both traveler numbers and total consumption. Long-distance travel will see substantial growth, while taking second and third trips will become common practice. Combining leave days before and after the holiday for staggered travel will emerge as a new trend.
The holiday will also showcase deeper cultural-tourism integration nationwide, with technology enabling new cultural spaces, consumption scenarios, and tourism formats. Both inbound and outbound travel markets are expected to grow, along with tourist satisfaction and local communities' sense of benefit.
China’s nine-day Spring Festival holiday poised to drive travel surge in 2026
