On October 4th, as the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday reaches its midpoint, a report released by TONGCHENGTRAVEL shows that the eight-day "dual festival celebration" holiday has significantly boosted demand for long-distance travel, with people's holiday trips characterized by "traveling farther and spending more."
According to TONGCHENGTRAVEL data, during the first half of the holiday period, domestic flight bookings for journeys over 3,200 kilometers saw a year-on-year increase of nearly 20%. Popular long-distance destinations were primarily traditional autumn travel locations including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Ningxia, and Gansu. The most popular long-distance aviation routes included: Shanghai-Urumqi, Urumqi-Shanghai, Guangzhou-Urumqi, Zhengzhou-Aksu, Jinan-Urumqi, Xi'an-Kashgar, Urumqi-Jinan, and Urumqi-Guangzhou. Among these, popular routes such as Xi'an to Kashgar experienced over 90% year-on-year growth in flight booking popularity.
On October 3rd, 2025, sunflowers bloomed at the Yunshang Terraced Fields scenic area in Beijing's Wenyu River Park, attracting numerous visitors for sightseeing and photography.
Meanwhile, visitor traffic at major scenic spots nationwide has remained at high levels, with museums ranking among the top themes in various cultural and tourism consumption categories. On October 1st, tickets for available time slots at popular museums including the National Museum of China, Palace Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Nanjing Museum, and Hunan Museum were either fully booked or sold out.
Based on search and booking data from the TONGCHENGTRAVEL platform, the most popular museums on the first day of the holiday included: Palace Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, National Museum of China, Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, Shaanxi Natural History Museum, Shenyang Palace Museum, Hebei Museum, and Sanxingdui Museum. Additionally, Suzhou Museum and Luoyang Museum remained fully booked throughout the long holiday period until around the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Beyond museums, family-friendly destinations such as historical and cultural districts, natural scenic areas, and theme parks have been experiencing peak visitor numbers since September 30th. The Jiuzhaigou Management Bureau issued an announcement on September 30th stating that as of 9:00 AM that day, 41,000 tickets had been reserved for Jiuzhaigou scenic area from October 1st to 6th, all reaching maximum capacity.
Shanxi Province, driven by the "Follow the Monkey King to Tour Shanxi" campaign, has seen multiple scenic spots approach saturation. For instance, the Xiaoxitian scenic area in Xi County announced on October 2nd that as of 6:35 PM on October 2nd, reservations for October 3rd-6th had reached 80% of maximum capacity, with on-site emergency tickets nearly sold out.
TONGCHENGTRAVEL platform data shows that during the first half of the holiday, the most popular historical and cultural districts nationwide included: Beijing's Nanluoguxiang, Nanjing's Confucius Temple, Xi'an's Tang Paradise, Shanghai's Wukang Road, Chengdu's Kuanzhai Alley, Chongqing's Hongya Cave, and Suzhou's Guanqian Street. Popular natural scenic areas included: Jiuzhaigou, Mount Emei, Huangshan, Mount Tai, and Huashan. Popular theme parks included: Beijing Universal Resort, Shanghai Disney Resort, Guangzhou Chimelong Paradise, and Shenzhen Happy Valley.
Simultaneously, "ordering takeout to experience local specialty foods" is becoming a new travel trend, with "takeout + dine-in" services jointly driving robust holiday dining consumption. A report released by Dianping on October 4th showed that during the first three days of the holiday, non-local user traffic for "quality takeout" increased by over 120% compared to the previous month, with second, third, and fourth-tier food cities showing traffic growth of 164%, far exceeding the overall market. Takeout orders from high-rated dine-in restaurants on the "Must-Eat List" and "Black Pearl" rankings increased by over 50% year-on-year, with an average order value of 42.5 yuan, demonstrating how "dine-in + takeout" services are jointly promoting holiday dining consumption growth.
From a city perspective, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, Changsha, and Chongqing ranked as the TOP 10 hot cities for "takeout culinary tourism," while Nanchang, Foshan, Zhuhai, Shantou, Sanya, Yangzhou, Jingdezhen, Zhongshan, Quanzhou, and Shaoxing were the TOP 10 culinary small cities for "takeout culinary tourism."
Notably, starting October 3rd, the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began welcoming the first wave of returning tourists, as travelers who departed early during the holiday began their return journeys. According to GZL Travel data, this round of returning tourists mainly consists of groups who traveled during the early peak-avoidance period from September 25th to 30th, with trip durations mostly ranging from 4 to 8 days. Domestic tourism return traffic concentrated on destinations including Xinjiang, Tibet, Beijing, Nanjing, Sichuan, and Guangxi. Return tourist numbers were particularly prominent for "Xinjiang Urumqi and Altay 3-flight/2-flight 8-day tours" and "Tibet Lhasa and Nyingchi 2-flight 7-day tours."
Outbound tourism return traffic primarily originated from Japan, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Maldives, and Malaysia, with the largest group being "Star Cruises Navigator 6-day tour" teams returning from Japan.
TONGCHENGTRAVEL platform data also shows that on October 4th, national aviation and railway passenger traffic was at a relative low point, with many consumers choosing to return home on October 4th or end their vacation early to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival at home. Peak-avoidance travelers from before the holiday will begin their "second trip" of the long holiday with family members on the Mid-Autumn Festival.
TONGCHENGTRAVEL platform data shows that starting October 3rd, booking popularity for nighttime cultural and tourism products for Mid-Autumn Festival day trips in major cities nationwide has risen significantly, with moon-viewing themed rooms and scenic rooms at suburban resort hotels and rural homestays experiencing strong demand. Non-heritage folk activities, theme parks, stargazing camping, and rural vacations ranked among the top attractions in major cities nationwide on the Mid-Autumn Festival.