(Yicai) Oct. 9 -- The week-long National Day holiday further evidenced that Chinese travel patterns are becoming more long-distance, multi-destination, and international, while the country is also attracting more inbound visitors.

Car bookings by users more than 2,000 kilometers from their home cities in China jumped 25 percent year on year over the holiday, according to figures from Beijing-based ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing. Overseas bookings by Chinese users doubled compared with the summer, while demand from foreign visitors in China surged 62 percent from a year ago.

Meanwhile, nearly 2.15 billion cross-regional trips were made in China from Oct. 1 to 7, averaging 306 million a day, for a 0.7 percent year-on-year increase, Ministry of Transport data showed.

Chinese holidaymakers also explored a wider range of travel options this year, numbers from travel platforms indicated. Didi reported that domestic bookings rose 7 percent from a year ago, while demand for rides outside users’ home cities climbed 54 percent compared with normal days.

Overseas travel demand also strengthened. Among Chinese users, rides booked through Didi’s international app in Australia surged 62 percent, while demand for Didi and 99 ride-hailing services in Latin America soared 90 percent. In Rio de Janeiro, it increased by more than five times.

Bookings for long-distance trips covering more than 800 km rose 25 percent year on year, according to Meituan’s 2026 National Day Holiday Consumption Insights Report. Thirty-one percent of travelers stayed at a single destination for at least three days, while hotel reservations for consecutive-night stays increased by 31 percent.

Holidaymakers visited an average of 1.2 cities each, up slightly on the previous year. The number of travelers combining air and high-speed rail travel to visit at least three cities in a single trip jumped by 54 percent, the report showed.

The numbers indicate that Chinese travelers are going farther and visiting more destinations within a single trip.

Inbound tourism remained another bright spot during the holiday, as foreign visitors explored China. Didi said ride-hailing orders placed by inbound travelers climbed 62 percent, extending the momentum behind the “China Travel” trend. They mainly came from Russia, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia.

Alongside long-standing attractions such as the Great Wall and Shanghai’s waterfront Bund area, itineraries increasingly included distinctive local experiences, such as Chongqing’s Liziba monorail passing through a residential building, the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in Guangzhou, and distinctive neighborhood visits across China.

Editor: Tom Litting