China expects 687 million passenger trips during the Dragon Boat holiday. This is a 7.7% increase from 2024. Self-driving trips will dominate, with over 98% of highway traffic from small vehicles. Most trips will be short-distance. A 6-million-kilometre transport network supports fast travel. Diverse travel scenes drive new consumption trends.

As China’s outbound travel surges past pre-pandemic levels in 2025, a new generation of alcohol consumers is reshaping global duty-free. No longer defined by tradition or hierarchy, today’s Chinese drinkers are younger, more spontaneous, and digitally wired; eager to explore, share, and curate their experiences.

An unusual convergence of the Dragon Boat Festival and Children’s Day in China over the weekend led to a surge in domestic tourism bookings to campsites, amusement parks and other attractions, according to travel platforms.

A Hollywood film topped ticket presales for China’s Dragon Boat Festival, but latest data points to a subdued box office for the holiday season as the industry grapples with a string of underwhelming performances.

The rise of Pop Mart, and in particular its breakout character Labubu, signals a decisive pivot in consumer behaviour. What was once considered niche designer toy culture has evolved into a mass-market emotional movement. In China, and increasingly across global markets, consumers are no longer buying purely for function. They’re buying for meaning, identity, and emotional resonance.

Chinese tourists are now flooding through Singapore’s Changi Airport in ever-greater numbers. The Southeast Asian nation now offers a whole host of activities that fit the changing tastes of Chinese travellers, as well as having a number of cultural and language alignments that help visitors easily acclimatize.

China’s Xinjiang – an ethnically diverse region that still faces Western sanctions over a slew of human-rights issues – plans to open up to more foreign visitors, as the local government strives to boost tourism and diversify the regional economy.

Why Are Young Chinese Travelling More Often? Reasons include escaping pressure, exploring the unknown, self-expression on social media, and turning travel into a lifestyle. Travel is also seen to rebuild social connections and fight existential anxiety. According to a China Trading Desk, 56% of today’s travellers are young people.

Explore China’s fast-shifting market, from outbound travel and 618 shopping to lifestyle-led drinking and Gen Z trends, all through the lens of our upgraded China Travel Dashboard 3.0.