From Gen Z flocking to museums and hot-spring stargazing retreats to families crisscrossing provincial borders, China is bracing for one of its busiest National Day holidays, data from multiple online travel platforms show.

Running from Oct. 1 to 8, this year’s Golden Week combines the National Day holiday with the Mid-Autumn Festival, extending what is traditionally the country’s busiest travel period.

The Ministry of Transport expects 2.36 billion trips during the period, averaging 295 million a day, up 3.2% from last year. Nearly 80% of travelers are forecast to go by car, while airlines have already sold more than 10 million domestic and 800,000 international tickets.

According to Trip.com, bookings for trips that cross provincial borders surged 58%, as travelers seek out new kinds of experiences. The platform reported rising interest in bundled packages that combine scenery, culture, and leisure, from sunrise views of snow-capped mountains straight from hotel beds to courtyard hot springs designed for stargazing.

Travel data from Meituan, one of China’s biggest service apps, said cultural tourism bookings for the holiday are up 73% from last year, with Gen Z accounting for nearly two-thirds. Searches for hotels near Henan’s Luoyang Museum jumped more than 700%, while interest near Shandong’s Tsingtao Beer Museum rose 272% year-on-year.

To spur holiday spending, authorities rolled out a “National Day Cultural and Tourism Consumption Month,” with local governments hosting more than 29,000 events and distributing 480 million yuan ($67 million) in subsidies, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

That push has dovetailed with strong consumer demand: forecasts from Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, showed group-purchase sales surging in the week before the break, led by hotels, restaurants, and home goods, with lower-tier cities driving much of the growth. Camping trips and traditional costume experiences ranked among the most popular draws.

(Header image: Tourists at the Confucius Temple in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Oct. 1, 2025. VCG)