Data from Qunar Travel, released on August 31, reveals that during the 2026 summer vacation period, Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Guiyang, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, and Chongqing ranked as the top 10 cities for hotel occupancy.

As the summer season concludes, average airfare prices in the first week of September have fallen 35% from the summer peak and are 50% cheaper than on the first day of the National Day holiday. With favorable weather across various regions, this period is being dubbed the prime "window of opportunity" for budget travel bargains.

Plenty of economy-class tickets at 90% discounts remain available. For instance, direct flights from Beijing to destinations like Taiyuan, Shanxi on September 1 (including fuel and airport construction fees) have already dropped to around 300 yuan.

Cool temperatures were the defining theme of this past summer's tourism, giving rise to a group of "cool circle" hidden-gem towns (with average temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius) as breakout destinations.

Qunar Travel data indicates that flight bookings to cities such as Lishui in Zhejiang, Bijie in Guizhou, Liupanshui in Guizhou, Delingha in Qinghai, and Datong in Shanxi all saw year-on-year growth exceeding 80%.

Meanwhile, the number of travelers purchasing their "first-ever flight ticket" for trips to third-tier and smaller airport cities surged by 26% year-on-year, outpacing the growth rate seen in first and second-tier cities.

The popularity of "county tourism" continues to climb. Based on hotel occupancy, Pingtan in Fujian, Yangshuo in Guangxi, Antu in Jilin, Xinyuan in Xinjiang, Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan, Libo in Guizhou, Leishan in Guizhou, Tekes in Xinjiang, Anji in Zhejiang, and Zhaosu in Xinjiang emerged as the top ten hottest county-level destinations this summer.