"520," homophonous with "I love you" in Chinese, has become a significant annual occasion for expressing affection. Beyond simple celebrations, an increasing number of young couples are choosing to commemorate their love with a trip on this date.
Data from Tongcheng Travel reveals that around May 20th, travel demand centered on themes like "travel registration" and "honeymoon trips" saw a concentrated release. Destinations such as Xinjiang, Hainan, Yunnan, Fujian, and Zhejiang ranked high in popularity on the platform, with bookings for related air tickets, hotels, and other travel products surging over 60% month-on-month. In terms of booking patterns, nearby short romantic getaways and long-distance cross-province honeymoon trips progressed hand in hand, with "traveling for love" becoming a vivid footnote to the romantic economy.
For couples opting for nearby "travel registration," the trend leans towards taking a couple of days off for a micro-getaway that balances a sense of ceremony with relaxation. Data shows short-trip peaks around May 20th in regions like Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei. Searches for scenic spots near marriage registration offices rose rapidly, and hotels tagged for "couple dates" saw particularly notable booking growth.
In Jiangsu, Suzhou's classical gardens and Nanjing's Republican-era architecture became popular backdrops for post-registration photos. Bookings for tickets to attractions like Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Nanjing's Presidential Palace, and Music Stage around May 20th increased by over 110% compared to the previous month. Many couples registered in the morning and visited these sites in the afternoon, dressed in modified cheongsams or light formalwear for photos. Wuxi's Li Garden, famous for the love legend of Fan Li and Xi Shi, saw strong sales for tickets and guided tour products around this date, driving a more than 70% month-on-month increase in hotel bookings within a 3-kilometer radius.
In Zhejiang, Hangzhou's West Lake boat tours were particularly popular, with young users accounting for over half of bookings. The marriage registration office on Huaniao Island in Shengsi, Zhoushan, also emerged as a hot choice for travel registration, boosting demand for nearby seaview homestays.
Xiamen, Fujian's Gulangyu Marriage Registration Center, the nation's first park-style registration venue located within a UNESCO World Heritage site, contributed to a 73% month-on-month rise in inbound flight bookings to Xiamen around May 20th. Bookings for products like round-trip ferry tickets to Gulangyu and multi-attraction passes climbed significantly, with prices at some popular nearby hotels also rising compared to the two prior days.
Similarly coastal Qingdao in Shandong, leveraging its "Sea Vows and Mountain Pledges" city IP, became an ideal destination for 520 travel registration. On Tongcheng Travel, hotel bookings near Anna Villa increased by 63% month-on-month. One-day tour products covering Qingdao's Badaguan Scenic Area, St. Michael's Cathedral, and the Olympic Sailing Center saw significant sales growth, with young couples making up a notably large portion of bookings.
Luoyang and Kaifeng in Henan gained popularity for their "Chinese-style romance." Around May 20th, search and booking heat for tickets to attractions like Longmen Grottoes, Laojun Mountain, and Jiuzhou Pool in the Sui-Tang Luoyang City National Heritage Park rose 95% month-on-month. Kaifeng's Millennium City Park and Wansui Mountain Wuxia City were also popular post-registration check-in spots, with related guided tour services selling well.
Hubei emerged as a dark horse destination in this trend. Yichang's Qingjiang Gallery Marriage Registration Office offered significant appeal, granting couples lifetime free entry to the scenic area after registration. Around May 20th, bookings for Qingjiang Gallery one-day carpool tours on Tongcheng Travel surged over 80% month-on-month, with riverside king rooms at nearby hotels proving popular among couples.
For couples willing to invest in longer holidays, 520 presented a perfect opportunity to combine travel registration with a honeymoon. On Tongcheng Travel, Xinjiang, Hainan, and Yunnan, with their unique natural landscapes and romantic ambiance, became the top three long-distance destinations for "travel registration."
Xinjiang's romance is embedded in numerical coincidences. Sayram Lake, known as "the Atlantic's last tear," has a surface area of approximately 1,314 square kilometers, homophonous with "一生一世" (a lifetime). Data shows inbound flight bookings to Urumqi Airport around May 20th increased 48% month-on-month, while bookings to Yining Airport rose 33%. Given Xinjiang's vast, sparsely populated terrain, car rentals or chauffeured self-drive tours became almost standard. On the platform, car rental bookings in Ili saw significant growth, with large SUVs accounting for nearly 70%. For attractions, bookings for Sayram Lake self-drive passes and boat tickets increased 85% month-on-month around this period. Additionally, Nalati Grassland, Kuergening, and Qiaxi were popular post-registration visit spots, with local yurt homestays and stargazing camp accommodations in high demand, some specialty room types selling out early.
Sanya, Hainan, boasts the natural love symbol of "Tianya Haijiao" (the Ends of the Earth). Inbound flight bookings to Sanya Airport around May 20th rose 45% month-on-month, with top source cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou. Many couples visited the Tianya Haijiao scenic area for photos after registering at the Sanya Bay Marriage Registration Office, driving a substantial increase in search popularity for the site. For accommodations, bookings for high-quality resort hotels in Sanya's Yalong Bay and Haitang Bay increased 60% compared to the previous month.
In Yunnan, holding marriage certificates for photos at the 4,680-meter mark of Lijiang's Jade Dragon Snow Mountain became a unique way for many couples to commemorate their love. Bookings for Lijiang Jade Dragon Snow Mountain + Blue Moon Valley one-day carpool tours rose notably around May 20th, with demand for nearby scenic homestays increasing over 65% month-on-month.
Sichuan's Mount Qingcheng, famous for the "Legend of the White Snake" love myth, and Mount Emei with its "Golden Summit Love Locks" also attracted many couples. Ticket bookings for both Mount Qingcheng and Mount Emei scenic areas showed clear month-on-month growth around May 20th.
Analysis from Tongcheng Research Institute suggests the popularity of "travel registration" essentially reflects the younger generation's active redefinition of how to express love. They seek to define their significant moments with unique geographical coordinates, natural landscapes, and numerical coincidences. From nearby registration micro-getaways to cross-province long-distance honeymoons, products across different time spans and consumption levels are in strong demand. In the future, "travel + registration" is expected to evolve from a single-day spike on 520 into a year-round常态化 development, potentially forming a genuine new segment within the romantic economy.
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