Editor: China’s May Day holiday, one of the country’s largest annual holidays, concluded on May 5. As expected, the five-day break triggered a nationwide travel boom. Yet beyond the bustling crowds, several new tourism trends have emerged, indicating potential new drivers for China’s economic growth. On the final day of the holiday, Global Times published an editorial highlighting these evolving patterns in domestic tourism and their broader implications for the Chinese economy. The following article was originally published in Global Times.
During this May Day holiday, China's consumer market unleashed renewed and robust vitality. Data from the Ministry of Transport shows that, from May 1 to 5, the total cross-regional passenger traffic nationwide increased by 8 percent year-on-year. Passenger volumes by rail, road, water, and air also saw a marked rise. According to the Ministry of Commerce, sales from major retail and catering businesses across China saw a year-over-year increase of 6.3 percent during the holiday. The twin boom in travel and consumption not only ignited the holiday economy but also revealed the depth and vast potential of China's economic development. While traditional tourist hotspots unsurprisingly saw huge crowds, many people opted for "reverse travel," making tourism in smaller cities a new highlight of consumption.
Lately, Lin Jiang, also famous as the “marinated geese cousin”, has gained great popularity for his presence in Speed’s China travel live stream. His hometown, Rongchang, a Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality where the marinated geese originate, has also gone viral on Chinese social media consequently. During the May Day holiday, this online popularity has fuelled an offline travel surge. The data has shown that Rongchang district received 2.24 million visitors and sold 290,000 marinated geese in just five days. Other non-traditional destinations such as Tongling in Anhui, Yichun in Jiangxi, and Tongliao in Inner Mongolia also witnessed peak visitor flows. According to the 2025 May Day Big Data Forecast Report of Trips.com, one of the biggest online tourism platforms, activity in county-level markets increased by 25 percent year-on-year during the holiday, outpacing that of major cities by 11 percentage points.From the rise of "village super league" and "village basketball association," or "village BA," over the past two years, to the unexpected popularity of Zibo barbecue and Tianshui malatang - and now to Rongchang, Tongliao and other small cities stepping into the spotlight of China's cultural tourism stage - a clear trend is emerging. China's vast territory is home to countless once-overlooked towns that are now gaining new opportunities, made possible by improvements in infrastructure. For instance, internet video platforms enable small businesses to reach customers more precisely, helping small cities achieve economic breakthroughs; the expansion of the high-speed rail network and the widespread use of electric vehicles have made spontaneous travel a reality. China's economic growth drivers are extending from first- and second-tier cities to the broader markets of third- and fourth-tier cities and counties. Regional coordinated development policies are bearing fruit, reflecting the breadth, depth, and multi-layered potential of China's domestic demand.
This video captures the bustling scenes across Beijing during the May Day holiday, showing huge crowds of tourists at popular attractions. [BRV]
Meanwhile, more foreign tourists are also flocking to smaller cities. Boosted by favorable policies such as visa-free transit and instant tax refunds, inbound travel orders surged 173 percent year-on-year during the May Day holiday period. While Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou remain key destinations, more international travelers are beginning to explore distinctive small cities such as Jingdezhen, Tianshui, and Zhoushan. With the emergence of new business models such as "technology + nature + culture" and "agriculture + intangible cultural heritage" in various regions, agricultural experiences and "China Shopping" have also become popular attractions for foreign tourists. It can be said that each "small town story" serves as a window into observing the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. As China continues to open up, "China Travel" has transformed from merely an experience into a lifestyle that allows people to feel and fall in love with China. In fact, it's not just "county tourism." The emergence of new forms of travel, such as "new silver-haired tourism (tourism for the elderly)," "neo-Chinese-style tourism (tourism featuring traditional Chinese cultural elements)," "shopping tourism," "reverse tourism (in which tourists prefer second- or third-tier cities)," and "concert tourism," showcases the immense demand and vibrant innovation within the Chinese market to the world. The prosperity of the cultural tourism market reflects the strong drive of people's pursuit of a better life, as well as the comprehensive progress China has achieved in the global consumer market to meet this pursuit. It not only creates more consumption hotspots and economic growth points, promoting further upgrade of related production and industrial chains, but also mirrors the tremendous potential and depth of the Chinese market, providing vast imagination space for the further release of future market potential. From the eastern coastal regions to small towns in the central and western parts of China, and from traditional manufacturing to emerging service industries, the multi-layered structure of the Chinese economy provides a "buffer zone" to withstand external risks while also creating a "testing ground" for innovation and growth. The vast market of over 1.4 billion people in China, the ongoing upgrade of consumption, and the new type of urbanization vividly illustrate that "the Chinese economy is not a pond, but an ocean."
Amid unprecedented turbulence in the global trade environment, this ancient land of China continues to emit new attractions. It is China's more open stance in welcoming the global consumer market that encourages both domestic and foreign tourists to place their trust in the Chinese market. The Chinese economy holds unlimited possibilities, and even more surprises are expected to emerge in the future. Whether in modern cities or small towns full of local flavor, each is uniquely telling its own story and showcasing China's charm. As more policy innovations resonate with market vitality in the future, the Chinese economy will steadily progress along the path of high-quality development and continue to inject more "Chinese momentum" into global prosperity.
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