According to the Ministry of Transport, travel during the National Day holiday is expected to be dominated by cross-regional long-haul tourism and family visits.
Total cross-regional passenger flows across society are projected to reach 2.13 billion person-trips, averaging 300 million per day.
The peak of holiday travel is expected on the first day, when cross-regional passenger flows are projected to hit 340 million person-trips.
New Energy Vehicle Traffic to Reach 17.8 Million on First Day of 2026 National Day Holiday
In terms of travel structure, road travel will dominate during the 2026 National Day holiday, accounting for more than 90% of the total.
Highway traffic volume on the first day of the holiday is expected to reach 71 million vehicle-trips, with new energy vehicle traffic surging to a peak of 17.8 million, 1.8 times the normal level.
Super Charging Stations Continue to Roll Out, Accelerating New Energy Vehicle Recharging
From January to August 2026, the Ministry of Transport added 11,000 high-power charging facilities, bringing the total number of charging facilities built in highway service areas nationwide to approximately 89,000.
Meanwhile, the ministry has conducted advance assessments and dynamically updated the list of particularly busy service areas for charging, guiding localities to provide mobile charging facilities to ease demand at especially busy service areas.
Air Passenger Traffic to Domestic Characteristic Tourist Cities Grows Rapidly
On the railway front, railway authorities have launched a 16-day joint transport plan for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday in advance, with additional trains added on popular routes.
Air passenger traffic to domestic characteristic tourist cities is growing rapidly. In Beijing, the two major airports are expected to handle more than 2.9 million passengers.
Currently, international flight bookings have increased 22.5% year-on-year, and civil aviation passenger volume is expected to hit a new historical high for the same period.
Traveling Farther During Holidays, Long-Haul Travel Popularity Rises Sharply Month-on-Month
During the National Day holiday, a mobile communications big data platform estimates that the overall scale of travelers will grow 5% on a daily average compared with the same period in 2025.
In 2026, people are clearly "traveling farther." Domestically, the number of tourists traveling distances exceeding 1,000 kilometers is expected to increase 9% year-on-year, with destinations such as Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Inner Mongolia expected to see tourist volumes grow by more than 12% year-on-year.
On social platforms, discussions on topics such as "National Day travel" and "long-haul travel" have increased 38% month-on-month compared with the previous week.
Transport Authorities to Adopt a Series of Measures to Ease Congestion and Ensure Smooth Traffic
Heavy traffic volume is putting greater pressure on the road network, and transport authorities will adopt a series of measures to ease congestion and ensure smooth traffic.
Vice Minister of Transport Li Yang stated that "two lists" will be established, with "one route, one plan" and "one spot, one plan" to prevent congestion.
An "intelligent road network assessment agent" has been developed, using modern AI technology to integrate historical and forecast data and identify a static list of road sections across the country where severe congestion is likely to occur.
Dynamic assessments will be conducted daily during the holiday, and the list will be promptly distributed to relevant localities so they can implement "one route, one plan" and ensure that large-scale congestion does not occur.
At the same time, for popular scenic spots and hotspot cities, we have worked with cultural and tourism departments to assess and identify lists of congestion-prone road sections in popular areas, guiding localities to prepare in advance and pre-position resources.