The 2026 New Year's holiday saw numerous destinations experience peak passenger flows, marking a fiery start for the cultural and tourism market. Data from Meituan Travel reveals that the top 10 popular travel destinations during the holiday were: Nanjing, Chengdu, Beijing, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Harbin, and Wuhan. Data from Meituan Travel shows that Nanjing, Chengdu, and Beijing ranked as the top three most popular cities for New Year's travel. Young people have emerged as the new driving force for local and regional travel, seeking deeper and more diverse experiences. Activities such as "climbing high for a view to symbolize New Year aspirations," "journeying to snow and ice paradises to experience the wonders of the north," and "celebrating the New Year with knowledge in museums" were popular. Meituan Travel data indicates that travelers born after 1995 accounted for 45% of visitors, with Harbin's Ice and Snow World being the most popular ice and snow attraction among young people, and the Laojun Mountain Scenic Area in Luoyang being a favored mountain hiking destination. During the holiday, diverse local experiences like drone light shows, music festivals, firework displays, and New Year's Eve lantern festivals attracted young tourists to "stay an extra night." According to Meituan Travel data, Xuancheng in Anhui, Yulin in Shaanxi, Tianmen in Hubei, Longnan in Gansu, Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai, Xiantao in Hubei, Turpan in Xinjiang, Lhasa in Tibet, Jiyuan in Henan, and Pu'er in Yunnan became top destinations where travelers born after 2000 opted to book homestays for an extended stay during the holiday.
"Cyber lantern viewing" became a popular New Year's activity, driving up consumption across dining, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, and entertainment. "There were so many lanterns featuring the 'horse' motif on the Xi'an City Wall. When the lights turned on at 6 PM, seeing the colorful radiance illuminate the 600-year-old ancient wall, the crowd erupted in excitement," said Ms. Wu, a tourist from Tianjin, who was deeply impressed by the Chang'an Lantern Festival. Meituan Travel data shows that during the New Year's holiday, ticket bookings for the "Xi'an City Wall & Forest of Steles Historical and Cultural Scenic Area" surged by 134% compared to the previous year. Related consumption searches for dining, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, and entertainment, such as "hotels near Xi'an City Wall's Yongning Gate," "Xi'an City Wall photographers," "Xi'an City Wall makeup and styling," and "food near Xi'an City Wall," increased. Meituan Travel data indicates that Xi'an's cultural and tourism bookings grew by 41% year-on-year during the holiday. Data from Meituan Travel shows that on New Year's Day, search popularity for "lantern festivals" increased significantly, with searches for the Chengdu Thousand Lantern Festival and Tianjin Shuixi Park Lantern Festival nearly doubling. The top 10 cities for "lantern festival" searches were: Chengdu, Xi'an, Tianjin, Shenyang, Langfang, Zigong, Nanjing, Hefei, Zhuhai, and Beijing. Beyond traditional New Year's Eve celebrations, "trendy New Year's Eve" activities attracted visitors from various regions. The Xiaomeisha Resort in Shenzhen launched a "Blossoming Wishes Night" beach New Year's Eve event, distributing 1,666 eco-friendly electronic Kongming lanterns to visitors. Accompanied by bonfires and the sound of waves, visitors released the lanterns to make wishes. Meituan Travel data shows that during the New Year's holiday, online traffic for the Xiaomeisha scenic area increased by 238% year-on-year. The Xiaomeisha scenic area also collaborated with Meituan Travel to offer a "New Year's Special Discount for Two at the Ocean World" promotion, with advance bookings enjoying a 37% discount. Furthermore, the Meituan App temporarily offered a joint ticket for Xiaomeisha and the Splendid China Folk Culture Village, allowing visitors to enjoy the sea by day and experience lantern displays and intangible cultural heritage by night, partaking in a New Year's celebration spanning ancient and modern times.
Staying somewhere unique! Villa homestays and bath centers became popular accommodation choices for those born after 2000 celebrating the New Year. The unique local experiences offered by homestays also encouraged tourists to "stay longer." Meituan Travel data indicates that during the New Year's holiday, searches increased for "hot spring private bath homestays" and "villa homestays" in Huzhou, Zhejiang; "ice and snow tourism homestays" in Harbin; "homestays convenient for cooking" in Shenyang; and "ice and snow tourism homestays" in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin. Additionally, Harbin's Central Street pedestrian zone and the Laojun Mountain Scenic Area in Luoyang became the homestay landmarks with the highest search popularity among travelers born after 2000 during the holiday. Meanwhile, celebrity concerts effectively boosted the popularity of nearby hotel bookings for the New Year. Meituan Travel data shows that Qingyuan, Foshan, and Ningbo became popular destinations for "booking hotels based on music festival locations" during the holiday, with hotel popularity significantly increasing within a 3-kilometer radius of the festival venues. As temperatures dropped in many areas during the holiday, bath centers became a new "mini-vacation" choice for both local and non-local users. Meituan data shows that during the New Year's holiday, search volumes for several keywords related to bath centers increased by several dozen times, with searches from those born after 2000 accounting for nearly 30%. Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Beijing, Suzhou, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Harbin, and Wuhan were the top 10 cities for bath center searches, with cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Nanjing, Suzhou, Changchun, and Ma'anshan seeing year-on-year search growth exceeding 100%. In terms of cross-city travel consumption, Shenyang, Beijing, Harbin, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Changchun were the top 10 cities for online transaction value from non-local users at bath centers. Among these, Shenyang ranked first nationally in both transaction volume and number of transacting users.
The combination of ice and snow tourism and the New Year's holiday brought a large number of visitors from within a "4-hour transportation circle" to Changbai Mountain. Since the opening of the Shenyang-Baihe high-speed railway, it welcomed another peak passenger flow during the New Year holiday. Meituan Travel data shows that during the holiday, cultural and tourism bookings for Baishan City increased by 57% year-on-year. Specifically, train ticket bookings with "Changbai Shan Railway Station" as the destination grew by 110% compared to the previous year. Amidst the snowy forests of Changbai Mountain, there was an increase in visitors from Changchun, Shenyang, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Harbin, and Jilin City. Utilizing transportation that allowed them to reach the ice and snow destination within 2 to 4 hours, they easily embarked on unique winter journeys. Changbai Mountain is renowned for its volcanic landforms and ice and snow landscapes. Beyond viewing the Tianchi crater lake, visitors can experience activities like sledding through snow-covered pine forests, hiking through the Changbai Mountain volcanic stone canyon, drifting through rime-covered scenery, getting up close to sika deer, and soaking in hot springs at the resort. These rich local experiences boosted the popularity of group tours. Meituan Travel data shows that during the New Year's holiday, bookings for guided tours to Changbai Mountain increased by 20% year-on-year. The "Changbai Mountain - Snow Ridge - Yanji" route became one of the most popular golden ice and snow itineraries, combining natural wonders with ethnic culture, and was highly favored by tourists. The established网红ice and snow city of Harbin continued its efforts to "spoil" visitors. Meituan Travel data shows that during the holiday, ticket bookings for local attractions in Harbin grew by 28%, with Harbin Ice and Snow World, Songhua River Ice and Snow Carnival, Hayao Sixth Pharmaceutical Printmaking Museum, St. Sophia Cathedral scenic area, and Heilongjiang Northeast Tiger Park being the most popular attractions among visitors.
Those born after 2000 became the main force for New Year's Eve celebrations, with Chimelong's firework shows and drones lighting up the Cantonese New Year's night. Meituan Travel data shows that during the New Year's holiday, ticket bookings for Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom increased by nearly 69% year-on-year, with travelers born after 2000 accounting for 30% of visitors; at Guangzhou Chimelong Happy World, this demographic constituted 40% of visitors. Both Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom and Guangzhou Chimelong Happy World extended their operating hours until midnight on New Year's Eve, with celebrations including firework displays, drone performances, celebrity concerts, and movie-themed parties. Furthermore, savoring "delicacies on the tip of the tongue" during travels became a significant part of the journey. During the 2026 New Year holiday, overall traffic to the "Must-Eat List" saw a year-on-year increase of 142%. Traffic from non-local users increased by nearly 100% year-on-year. The top 10 cities for traffic during the holiday were Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan, Suzhou, and Tianjin. The top 10 smaller cities for food-related traffic were Nanchang, Zhuhai, Quanzhou, Shantou, Nantong, Jiaxing, Xuzhou, Jinhua, Huizhou, and Taizhou.
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