On October 3, Qilian County in Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, welcomed over 100,000 tourists, with all hotels and guesthouses fully booked.

Online, many tourists who could not secure accommodation expressed their gratitude, saying that when booking a room seemed hopeless, the local culture and tourism department provided free accommodation in heated student dormitories, and they gave a thumbs-up to Qilian's culture and tourism services.

According to tourist Lin Bin (pseudonym), during the National Day holiday, he traveled from Xi'an to Qinghai and arrived in Qilian County on October 3. From that afternoon until dark, he searched major platforms but could not find any accommodation. "Later, while scrolling on my phone, I saw an announcement from Qilian Culture and Tourism saying that if you have accommodation difficulties, you can contact them, so I gave them a call." Lin Bin told reporters that he was arranged to stay at Qilian County Nationalities Middle School that evening. "One room accommodated four people, and brand-new bedding was provided on site." Lin Bin said that it rained in Qilian on October 3, and it even snowed on the mountain tops, with nighttime temperatures dropping to minus 4 degrees Celsius. He was very grateful for the free dormitory coordinated by the local authorities, considering it a big plus for Qilian County.

Another netizen shared that on October 3, after their family searched for a hotel for three hours without success, they got through to the culture and tourism bureau's phone number with the help of a local man in Qilian. The staff asked how many people there were and then told them to go directly to the school. "I had only heard about staying in schools online, but I actually got to experience it." The netizen said that when they arrived at the school, many cars were already parked at the entrance. Registration was completed quickly, and men and women were accommodated separately. In just half an hour, they went from being "homeless" to staying in a heated dormitory. On social media, many tourists posted videos or messages expressing their thanks to Qilian Culture and Tourism, "giving them praise."

Chen, a staff member from the office of the Qilian County Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television Bureau, told reporters that from 5:30 PM to midnight on October 3, they received over 400 calls in the office, mostly from tourists looking for accommodation, "not stopping for a moment in nearly 7 hours." During those 7 hours, Chen and colleagues recorded each call on sticky notes, including phone numbers, number of tourists, gender composition, and other information, then took photos of the notes and sent them to various local hotel groups to check for available rooms. They also shared the information in work groups with colleagues at the school dormitory resettlement points to arrange enough beds at any time. "That night, calls came one after another. The director worried we hadn't eaten, so he ordered takeout for us. I took two hours to eat a burger and still didn't finish it—there was simply no time to eat." Chen said that the tourists who called that night were all very nice; some even offered to pay normally for staying in student dormitories and were very surprised to hear it was free, expressing their gratitude to Qilian County over the phone. "During the National Day holiday, staff from the culture and tourism department were on standby at all times. When the flow of people increased, everyone was on duty. In the past two days, some people went to the school resettlement points to transport supplies like quilts, while others coordinated arrangements in the office." Chen said that in the culture and tourism work group, messages were still being sent at 3 or 4 AM. Additionally, Chen said that the tourists were very well-behaved, and so far there had been no reports of damaged or lost items in the student dormitories.

In a video circulating online on October 3, Feng Lingling, Party Secretary and Director of the Qilian County Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television Bureau, was seen in a student dormitory helping tourists make beds and carry luggage. On the afternoon of October 4, Feng Lingling said that this year's National Day tourist volume was even higher than the regular peak season. On October 2 and 3, she was on the front line at the temporary public welfare resettlement point at the school dormitory. "We originally expected the National Day flow to be at most on par with the peak season, but it suddenly surged." Feng Lingling said that starting around 5 PM on October 2, they began receiving reports of tourists unable to find accommodation. According to previous contingency plans, they contacted the education bureau and schools that evening to open the dormitories. "The day before yesterday, I made beds with colleagues; yesterday, I helped with registration." On the evening of October 3, as one school's dormitories were insufficient, another school was arranged. At that time, many people were queuing, and the culture and tourism bureau temporarily accommodated several elderly people over 80 years old in the room where staff were registering. Later, as registration continued into the night, staff worried about disturbing the elderly's rest and planned to move to the hallway to register, but the elderly said it was too cold outside and that registering in the room wouldn't be noisy or affect their rest. In the end, the staff still chose to register in the hallway. That night, Feng Lingling and other staff worked until about 2:40 AM on October 4 before returning home to rest. Feng Lingling said that in a county town with a population of 50,000, based on traffic flow statistics of 35,000 vehicles, over 100,000 people poured in on October 3. Some might have passed through directly, but even if only a small portion stayed, the county's accommodation capacity could not contain them.

Reporters learned that from October 3 to 2:30 AM on October 4, the Qilian County Culture and Tourism Bureau received 510 calls for accommodation assistance from tourists, involving over 800 people. Among them, 453 people were accommodated through emergency support beds at Qilian County Nationalities Middle School and Haibei Prefecture Third Senior High School, 200 people were accommodated through other rural tourism reception points, guesthouses, and hotel cancellation rooms, and the remaining tourists either found accommodation on their own or went to surrounding areas. All accommodation needs were properly resolved. Qilian County's tourism peak season is generally July and August each year. This year, due to the popularity of the local No. 9 Highway on the internet, a large number of tourists were attracted to visit during the National Day holiday.