On February 2nd, the 2026 national Spring Festival travel rush officially commenced. A convergence of multiple passenger flows, including those returning home, students on holiday, and tourists on vacation, characterized the first day with robust transport demand, diverse travel destinations, and a noticeable uptick in hotel reservations. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that on February 2nd, the average prices for both domestic and international air tickets saw a slight increase compared to the same period last week, yet overall remained stable, with a significant surge anticipated to begin around February 7th.

Western cities not only emerged as key destinations for popular domestic routes on the first day of the travel rush but also saw Chengdu and Chongqing ranking just behind Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen in hotel booking popularity, leading the pack among non-first-tier cities. The long-distance travel market on the first day exhibited a distinct "heading west" trend. According to Tongcheng Travel data, as of 1:00 PM on February 2nd, the top five hottest domestic flight destinations were Guiyang, Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing, and Xi'an, with departures primarily concentrated in cities within the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, such as Shanghai, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shenzhen.

Notably, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta were also the areas with the highest short-distance travel demand on the first day of the Spring Festival travel period, with passenger demographics mainly consisting of business travelers and leisure tourists. As the Spring Festival approaches, the flurry of business visits and the need for temporary accommodations for transit passengers have boosted hotel booking activity on the travel rush's opening day. Tongcheng Travel data indicates that, as of 1:00 PM on February 2nd, hotel search popularity in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen surged by over 70% compared to the previous week.

Hotels located near railway stations, airports, and popular commercial districts showed certain room types for same-day check-in as already sold out. Hourly rooms, double beds, and family rooms became the most sought-after room types during this period.