The first Spring Festival after the implementation of the 8-day holiday, the total number of trips reached a new high. Kaiping News reporters learned from Ctrip, Meituan, Fliggy, Qunar, Tongcheng and other platforms that "chasing intangible cultural heritage during the Spring Festival" has become the top stream of the tourism market during this holiday. The popularity of "intangible cultural heritage tours", including intangible cultural heritage attractions and intangible cultural heritage experiences, has increased significantly compared to last year. The most popular content is visiting lantern festivals with relatives and friends and enjoying folk performances.

Zhou Huijie, an industry analyst with Ctrip Research Institute, said that Kunming and other cities along the line near the 25 degrees north latitude  have become the golden belt for Spring Festival tourism due to the suitable temperature for travel and intangible cultural heritage projects. Outbound travel by foreigners to experience the Chinese New Year atmosphere has also become a highlight. Tujia's B&B data shows that as of February 4, the platform's B&B bookings for non-Chinese passports during the Spring Festival increased 3.7 times year-on-year, and 51 cities received orders from foreigners for the first time. According to the platform's B&B bookings, Dali ranked first for three consecutive years.

The popularity of "intangible cultural heritage tours" during the Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake increased significantly.

Customised tours to Lincang, Wenshan and Pu'er increased by more than 10 times.

On February 4, the first Spring Festival holiday after the successful inclusion on the UNESCO list came to an end. The collision of warm and pleasant sea climate with beautiful scenery, delicious food and the flavour of the New Year has made the "25 degrees north latitude tourism golden belt", where Fujian’s Xiamen, Guangdong’s Shantou, Yunnan’s Kunming, Guangxi’s Guilin, Yunnan’s Dali are very popular with tourists. According to Ctrip data, Xiamen and Kunming are both among the top 20 most popular domestic tourist destinations.

According to Tongcheng Travel, Chongqing, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Hangzhou and Suzhou are the most popular cities for hotel bookings in China during the Spring Festival holiday.

In terms of airfares, this year's Spring Festival airfares are about the same as last year. However, as people's travel directions become more diverse, Qunar's big data shows that air ticket prices to traditionally popular destinations such as Sanya and Xishuangbanna during the festival are lower than in previous years. In terms of the number of destination air tickets during the Spring Festival, the top 10 popular cities are: Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi'an, Haikou and Hangzhou.

Looking at Yunnan, during the Spring Festival, Yunnan's air ticket orders increased by 11% year on year, and inbound tour orders increased by 85% year on year. Dongfengyun Scenic Area, Shilin Scenic Area, Manting Royal Garden, Wild Elephant Valley and Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were the most popular among tourists. Kunming's air ticket orders increased by 6% year-on-year, and Kunming's inbound tour orders increased by 90% year-on-year.

Data from Fliggy shows that the number of customised tours orders in Lincang, Wenshan and Pu'er increased by more than 10 times year-on-year, and the number of Nujiang Line tour orders increased by more than 9 times year-on-year, the number of Diqing ticket orders increased by more than 5 times year-on-year; the number of Lincang and Qujing chartered tour orders increased by more than 4 times year-on-year; and the number of Lincang, Chuxiong and Diqing car rental orders increased by more than 2 times year-on-year. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shanghai are popular sources of tourists to Yunnan.

In addition, whether it is watching lantern festivals, visiting temple fairs, wearing Hanfu, making rice cakes or setting off fireworks, this year's Spring Festival holiday, family travel and experiencing cultural activities have become mainstream. Yunnan's ancient cities and old streets are "full" of young people born after 2000 who are travelling in depth. Meituan Travel data shows that during the Spring Festival 2025, the search volume for "ancient city hotel" increased by 228% year on year. The search volume for "Dali Ancient City B&B" increased by 326%, and the search volume for "Lijiang Ancient City B&B" increased by 221%.

Yunnan car rental orders up year on year.

Kunming among the top 3 car rental destinations.

For people travelling across provinces and cities, car rental and self-driving have become a popular way for tourists to travel during this year's Spring Festival holiday due to their flexibility, freedom, independence and privacy. The number of car rental orders in Yunnan has increased year on year. Ctrip's car rental data shows that during this year's Spring Festival, 55% of domestic tourists chose to rent a car and drive themselves, followed by group tours, which accounted for 27%. People born in the 1980s and 1990s are the main group of people who rent a car and drive themselves, accounting for as much as 75%; the top 5 popular destinations for domestic car rentals are Chengdu, Haikou, Kunming, Sanya and Guangzhou.

Meituan travel data shows that during this year's Spring Festival holiday, the search popularity of "renting a car and driving" increased by nearly 30% month-on-month, with young users aged 25-30 accounting for the highest proportion. The top 10 search cities are: Dali, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Sanya, Kunming, Xi'an, Beijing, Weihai and Shantou.

According to Fliggy, the volume of car rental and customised tour orders during the Spring Festival holiday saw double-digit growth year-on-year. Among them, Sanya, Haikou, Chengdu, Kunming, Dali and other cities are popular cities for self-driving tours, and Xishuangbanna, Lijiang, Beijing, Harbin, Pu'er and other cities are popular cities for customized tours.

The "multi-functional chartered tour" has emerged with its super-high cost-effectiveness and has been favoured by family tourists. One car for one family, with a driver and guide explaining the local New Year culture on the way, and experience of Yingge dance, parade, dragon dance, lantern festival and other non-legacy activities, with flexibility and experience.

There is a 240-hour visa-free period plus the 8-day Spring Festival holiday. There are also more foreign guests who like to come to China, and the world celebrates the Chinese New Year together. According to Qunar, the number of domestic flights booked by non-Chinese passport holders during the Spring Festival has so far increased by 70% year-on-year. Among the Chinese cities booked by foreigners, in addition to Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Hangzhou and other cities with a strong sense of history and culture, more foreigners are turning to second-tier and third-tier cities to explore, with 10 new destinations added year-on-year. They are: Baotou, Dali, Nantong, Taizhou, Yining, Enshi, Yiwu, Linyi, Zhuhai and Beihai.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Becomes the "Trump Card" of Spring Festival Homestays.

Dali ranks first in B&B bookings for three consecutive years.

Go to the market, write Spring Festival couplets, light fireworks, play the Guzheng and learn Chinese from children... American Bai Muchuan spent a real Chinese New Year in a B&B in Dali. At the same time, an increasing number of foreigners want to experience the Lunar New Year atmosphere in Chinese homestays. "There are more and more foreign tourists. Miss Liang, the hostess of Dali Wuliu Guiyuan B&B, introduced that among them there are Swedish guys who came to Yunnan to explore Chinese tea culture, and there are also American guys who have just graduated and travelled all the way to China.

Foreign tourists experience handwritten "Fu". Image source: Dali Wuliu Guiyuan B&B

22-year-old American Bai Muchuan wanted to learn Chinese by travelling. The B&B landlord, Miss Liang, took him to experience Dali's tea art and Guzheng, and introduced him to visit ethnic minority families in the rural mountains to immerse himself in the ethnic minority Spring Festival. At the B&B, Bai Muchuan mingled with other guests, asking Chinese children Chinese questions and answering their English winter holiday homework. "I like China a lot and the people here are very friendly." Bai Muchuan praised.

Foreign guests also prefer B&Bs with traditional cultural heritage. For example, Korean guests prefer old houses in Shanghai, and Japanese guests like to stay in old villages in Guangzhou... As of February 4, the top 5 most popular B&B destinations for foreign guests are Guangzhou, Dali, Shanghai, Chongqing and Harbin. They have visited 51 new Chinese cities, including Anji in Zhejiang, Pingtan in Fujian and Nan'ao in Guangdong.

To welcome foreign guests, domestic B&Bs are also improving their reception capacity. The number of B&Bs with the "can receive foreigners" label on the Tujia platform has increased by 30% year on year.

"This year, we clearly feel that guests are more interested in intangible cultural heritage experiences. In order to let guests experience the unique local ethnic minority culture, this year we added intangible cultural heritage-themed New Year activities for the Yi and Bai ethnic groups, and every event was full," said Miss Liang, the owner of Dali Wuliu Guiyuan B&B.

Spend a Bai New Year in Dali. Image source: Dali Wuliu Guiyuan B&B

As the first "intangible cultural heritage version" of the Spring Festival, characteristic folk customs and intangible cultural heritage experiences have become the trump cards of B&Bs during the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival, the search volume of keywords such as "Spring Festival", "New Year", "folk customs" and "intangible cultural heritage" on the Tujia platform increased by 4.2 times year on year.

Wearing Bai costumes, making auspicious Er Kuai flowers, intangible cultural heritage handmade Jiama wealth lamps, tie-dyed lucky bags, toasting at night to experience the fire pit banquet, singing and dancing around the bonfire... In terms of the volume of B&B bookings on the platform, Dali has ranked first for three consecutive years, and Shantou and Fuzhou have entered the Top 10 for the first time. The top 10 most popular Spring Festival booking cities on the platform are: Dali, Chongqing, Chengdu, Harbin, Kunming, Xi'an, Beijing, Shantou, Guangzhou and Fuzhou. In terms of popular business districts, Chongqing Jiefangbei/Hongyadong, Dali Ancient Town, Harbin Central Street Pedestrian Precinct, Changsha May Day Square and Chengdu Chunxi Road are among the top five.

It is advisable to travel during the off-peak period after the Lantern Festival.

The average airfare in Kunming will drop by 30% to 40%.

As the festival with the largest population flow throughout the year, Ctrip data shows that the proportion of cross-provincial travel orders during this year's Spring Festival holiday reached 62%, and the travel radius of tourists has further expanded.

During the peak return period on the fifth and sixth days of the first lunar month, airfares are high. Tourists who choose to return during the off-peak period can buy air tickets after the tenth day of the first lunar month (February 7), and air ticket prices are expected to return to normal levels after that. After the Spring Festival holiday, the off-peak spring travel season usually begins. Ctrip's data shows that after the Lantern Festival, the average price of air tickets and hotels dropped by 30% to 50% compared to the Spring Festival period, which is suitable for off-peak travel. Taking into account the average price of airfare and hotel and the flow of people, the recommended destinations for off-peak travel are Nanjing, Tianjin, Luoyang, Xiamen and Fuzhou. The average hotel price in the week after the Spring Festival has dropped by an average of 40% compared to the holiday period.

In terms of airfares, destinations with significant decreases include Chongqing, Kunming, Harbin, Sanya and Haikou, with average decreases of 30% to 40%. The cheapest airfares on the Fliggy platform for routes such as Shanghai-Sanya and Shanghai-Wuhan on February 7, Hangzhou-Guiyang and Nanjing-Baishan on February 8, and Hangzhou-Chengdu and Shenzhen-Kunming on February 9 are all less than 200 yuan (excluding taxes and fees). In addition, high-star hotels in many popular tourist cities have gone from "hard to find a room" to less than 500 yuan per night. (Kaiping News reporter Sun Jianghong Text by Ctrip Fliggy Qunar Photo by Tongcheng)

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(Editor: Reena, Ines)