China's Qingming holiday sees 845 million trips amid spring travel boom

China's Qingming Festival holiday, spanning Saturday to Monday, witnessed a massive surge in travel as millions honored ancestors through tomb-sweeping rituals and enjoyed the vibrant spring scenery across the country.

An estimated 845.38 million passenger trips were made across China during the three-day holiday, up 6% year on year, the Ministry of Transport said on Monday.

Road travel accounted for 778.45 million trips, rising 5.8% from the same period last year, while railway trips reached 57.68 million, up 8.2% year on year. Waterway transport handled about 3.7 million passenger trips, an increase of 9.8%, while civil aviation carried approximately 5.5 million trips, down 1.3%.

The travel boom was fueled by the overlap of the Qingming Festival, a traditional Chinese festival for people to pay tribute to the deceased, which fell on Sunday this year, and spring breaks for primary and secondary school students in many regions, prompting a rise in family trips and parent-child tours.

Honoring ancestors

Data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed that on Saturday, 66,300 funeral service institutions nationwide provided on-site memorial services, receiving nearly 19.29 million visits. Of these, about 12.10 million opted for green, low-carbon memorial methods, accounting for 62.73% of total on-site visits.

In addition to honoring ancestors, authorities nationwide encouraged patriotic reflection and a deeper appreciation of China's historical legacy, urging people to cherish the hard-won happiness of today during the holiday.

On Saturday, Nanjing's Yuhuatai Martyrs' Cemetery attracted numerous visitors. Beneath lush pines and cypresses, floral arrangements spelling out "Remembrance" added solemnity to the Martyrs' Monument. In front of the monument, elementary school students wearing red scarves gently laid chrysanthemums and bowed in tribute.

Spring break, family fun

The introduction of the spring break for primary and secondary school students in some parts of China has extended the three-day Qingming holiday into a longer vacation, roughly five or six days, allowing families to travel farther and spend more quality time together.

In Beijing's Yuyuantan Park, cherry blossoms bloom over rippling spring waters. Near the trees, Chen from Foshan City, south China's Guangdong Province, photographed her two daughters, capturing the memories of their spring holiday.

"I've always wanted to bring my children to Beijing. My daughter's school gave her a two-day spring break, which conveniently coincided with Qingming, making it perfect for a short trip," Chen said. This is her children's first visit to Beijing, with plans to explore Yuyuantan Park, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall.

Data from Qunar, a leading Chinese travel service platform, showed a significant surge in trips from April 1 to 6, with long-distance travel over 800 kilometers increasing by over 30%. Families with children became the main travelers: passengers aged 13–18 increased by 85% on flights and those under 12 up 55%.

Zhang Weifu, a professor at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, said the extended holiday provides ample time for travel, with family groups showing strong spending vitality.

Enjoying spring scenery

From the cherry blossoms at Zhanbi Tower in Hangzhou, to magnolias at Suzhou's Wangshi Garden and peonies in Luoyang, flowers bloom across the country during Qingming, creating striking scenes widely shared on social media and boosting the "flower-viewing economy."

Data from travel booking platform Fliggy shows that since March, searches for "flower viewing" and "spring outings" have risen 3.8 times month on month, while sales of sightseeing and travel packages on the platform increased by 72% year on year.

Enjoying the seasonal scenery has become both a ritual and a trending travel theme during the Qingming Festival holiday. In Shanghai, several parks welcomed over 30,000 visits on the first day of the holiday, while municipal parks in Beijing received 585,700 visits on Saturday.

In east China's Jinan City, major attractions used blooming flowers to attract visitors. By incorporating intangible cultural heritage, performances, parades and local markets, the city enhanced the vibrancy of folk traditions and extended the flower-viewing economy. By 2 p.m. on Saturday, 30 key tourist sites in the city witnessed 391,000 visits and generated 13.905 million yuan in revenue.