The vibrant Lantern Festival celebrations and lantern riddle guessing activities across various regions on the 15th day of the first lunar month have sparked a surge in holiday travel enthusiasm. A growing number of consumers are utilizing AI tools to obtain customized travel plans for the festival. According to data from TONGCHENGTRAVEL, as of 4:00 PM on March 2nd, searches for "lantern displays" using the company's travel AI agent, DeepTrip, had increased by over 40% compared to the same period last week. User AI searches showed the highest interest in Lantern Festival events in destinations such as Shanghai, Shenyang, Zigong, Nanjing, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Datong. This year's Lantern Festival coincided with a workday, prompting many visitors to head directly to lantern fairs and temple fairs after work, maximizing the festive atmosphere. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data indicates that on the day of the festival, domestic tourist interest in "night tour" themed scenic spots increased by over 17% compared to the previous week, with popular "lantern display" and "temple fair" themed scenic spots seeing a rise of more than 20%. Amid the festive mood, TONGCHENGTRAVEL's Yanoda Tropical Rainforest scenic area and Qingdian Luzhi Night Tour scenic area maintained high popularity. On Lantern Festival day, boosted by intangible cultural heritage performances and immersive NPC interactions, ticket booking interest for Qingdian Luzhi increased by over 15% year-on-year. Based on combined search and ticket booking热度 data, the top ten most popular themed lantern displays in China on the festival day were: the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival (Zigong), the 40th Qinhuai Lantern Festival (Nanjing), the 2026 Shanghai Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival, the 2026 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Lantern Festival (Guangzhou), the 2026 Datong Ancient Capital Lantern Festival, the 2026 Shenyang Thousand Lantern Festival, the 24th "Two Horses Celebrating the Lantern Festival Together" Lantern Festival (Fuzhou), the 2026 Chongqing Spring Festival Lantern Festival, the 2026 Tianjin International Lantern Festival, and the 2026 Chang'an Lantern Festival (Xi'an). While diverse lantern and temple fairs illuminated the holiday nightlife, this year's Lantern Festival moon viewing also presented a "highlight." On the evening of the festival, a total lunar eclipse occurred within China, marking the only such occurrence on the Lantern Festival in 2026 and the sole coincidence of the two events for the next 46 years. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that, as of 4:00 PM on March 2nd, the top ten popular spots for moon viewing searches included not only famous landmarks like Hangzhou's West Lake, Shanghai's the Bund, the corner tower of Beijing's Forbidden City, Tianjin Eye, Guangzhou Tower, Suzhou's Jinji Lake, and Guilin's Li River Yulong River Scenic Area, but also popular stargazing destinations such as Shenzhen's Xichong International Dark Sky Community, Sichuan's Huanglong International Dark Sky Park, and Gaotiankeng Village in Kaihua County, Quzhou, Zhejiang, which also showed strong search interest. Among these, search热度 for Shenzhen's Xichong International Dark Sky Community increased by over 110% compared to the previous week, leading the domestic moon-viewing spot popularity rankings.
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