China’s travel and tourism finally roared back to pre-pandemic levels during the recently concluded Lunar New Year holiday season. Tourists celebrated the Year of the Dragon by taking 474 million domestic trips over the past two weeks.

People headed across the country from the frozen Harbin to the beaches of Sanya, or went abroad to Singapore (only recently became visa-free for Chinese travelers) and beyond for a well-earned break. The boom in spending has also given a welcome lift to the economy.

Here are some of the key data points from China’s Lunar New Year travel rush:

_{Infographics by Wang Siqi}

Sources

_{“474 Million Domestic Trips during Chinese New Year Holiday (春节假期国内旅游出游4.74亿人次),” People’s Daily, February 19, 2024
“Platform Data Shows that Chinese Tourists’ Footprints Covers Over 1,700 Cities Around the World During the Lunar New Year (平台数据显示春节中国游客足迹遍布全球1700多个城市),” Chinanews.com, February 17, 2024
Xue Bingbing (薛冰冰), “In the Big Data of the 2024 Spring Festival Travel Rush We Have Discovered These Changes (透视2024年春运大数据，我们发现了这些变化),” Jiemian News, February 19, 2024
“Latest Data: On New Year’s Eve, Users Snatched 5.08 Billion WeChat Red Envelopes (最新数据：除夕夜用户抢微信红包50.8亿个),” WeChatPie, February 10, 2024
Liu Yuling (柳俞伶), “Return Flight Tickets Skyrocket, Over 80,000 Tourists Stranded in Sanya, a Family of Five Flying Back from Sanya to Xinyang would Cost 100,000 Yuan (返程机票暴涨，滞留三亚游客超8万，1家5口从三亚飞回新疆要花10万),” Jimu News, February 18, 2024
Ma Ling (马玲), “Spring Festival Holiday Ignites the Travel Boom, With the Number of Travelers and Total Travel Expenses Reaching Record Highs among Many Indicators (春节长假点燃旅游热—出游人次和出游总花费等多项指标创历史新高),” Financialnews.com, February 21, 2024
“Alipay: During the Spring Festival Period, the Amount Spent by Overseas Tourists in China Increased by 500% Year-on-Year (支付宝: 春节期间境外游客在中国消费金额同比增长 500%),” TMTPOST, February 16, 2024}