The five-day May Day holiday is fueling a nationwide travel boom in China, with scenic spots across the country recording a sharp year-on-year increase in visitor numbers on the very first day of the break.
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.
The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north is contributing to the boom, with the local culture and tourism department rolling out 371 events across seven distinct themes. These activities highlight the region's rich resources in performing arts, museums, sports, reading, exhibitions, intangible heritage, and traditional cuisine.
Meanwhile, local authorities are offering subsidized performance tickets with a broader regional push to reduce travel costs.
The tourism market in east China's Shandong Province also posted eye-catching numbers. As of 15:00 Friday, 200 key scenic spots across the province had received over 4 million visits -- a 6.6 percent year-on-year increase -- and generated 200 million yuan (about 29.3 million U.S. dollars) in operating revenue, up 5.3 percent from last year.
The scenic Jiangnan region, famed for its canal-crossed towns and historic stone bridges, also emerged as a major holiday destination. Located south of the lower Yangtze River, the fertile region attracted visitors from across the country, eager to explore its iconic alleyways and traditional cultural landscapes during the five-day holiday.
On Friday alone, A-level and above tourist attractions across east China's Anhui Province received 3.24 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 percent, with ticket revenue reaching 39.373 million yuan. Among them, 5A-level attractions received 408,000 visitors, up 12.2 percent year on year.
Data from the local culture and tourism authority in east China's Jiangsu Province showed that from 14:00 Thursday to 14:00 Friday, 236 4A-level and above scenic spots in the province recorded over 4 million visits.
In the provincial capital Hangzhou, the West Lake scenic area, the Hangzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the Qiandao Lake emerged as top attractions. Meanwhile, the Fucheng Cultural Tourism Zone in Taizhou and the Nanxi River Scenic Area in Wenzhou also drew huge crowds.
Throngs of tourists are also flocking to central China's Hunan Province for a wide array of cultural and tourism consumption events. According to the official data, Hunan logged 9.2795 million visits on Friday, up 5.85 percent year on year. Among 1,071 monitored cultural and tourism venues, about 1.353 million visits were recorded, a roughly 15.17 percent increase year on year.
The integration of culture and tourism has energized the holiday economy in central China's Hubei Province -- a region endowed with stunning natural scenery and rich revolutionary heritage tourism sites.
More than 700 A-level and above attractions under key monitoring in Hubei received about 3.47 million visits on Friday, an 11.63 percent rise from the same period last year.
In addition, 141 4A-level and above scenic spots across east China's Fujian Province recorded a total of about 1.1 million visits, a year-on-year increase of 0.4 percent. Fuzhou, Nanping and Xiamen ranked as the top three cities in terms of visitor numbers at key monitored scenic spots.
Tourist destinations across China see surge in visitors during May Day holiday
