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BEIJING, Oct 2 (Reuters) - China's national railway recorded 23.13 million trips on the first day of the country's eight-day National Day holiday on Wednesday, up nearly 8% from a year earlier and setting a single-day record, state media CCTV reported.

More than 19 million trips were expected to be made on the railway network on Thursday, CCTV said. The Yangtze River Delta Railway alone was forecast to handle four million passengers, a more than 10% increase from the previous year.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is expected to release total travel data after the holiday, which officially ends on October 8 and is an important indicator of consumer demand and the health of the Chinese economy.

China is expected to see around 2.36 billion passenger trips nationwide during the holiday period, Xinhua said, citing the Ministry of Transport, with daily average trips estimated at 295 million, a 3.2% increase compared with the same period of 2024.

In 2024, 21.45 million trips were made on the national rail network on October 1, a record high at the time. In 2019, the number was 17.13 million.

Coinciding with the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, the National Day holiday this year has been extended from one week to eight days.

On social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, users exchanged tips about how to save money when travelling, including by taking evening trains to save on accommodation.

The holiday period is traditionally one of the busiest on China's travel calendar and Trip.com Group 9961.HK had forecast before the holiday that 2025 was set to be one of the busiest travel periods in recent years.

Authorities are hoping the holiday season will provide a much-needed boost to domestic spending amid sluggish economic growth, with smaller, lesser-known cities emerging as holiday picks for some of China's cost-conscious travellers.

"I'm taking my family to a village in Chizhou, Anhui," said Deng Xin, a 51-year-old Beijing resident. "There are mountains and rivers, but no crowds, and the price is far more affordable than hotels in big cities."

(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh and Jessie Pang; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Jacqueline Wong)

((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))