China’s railway network has registered over 100 million trips during the five-day May Day holiday ending on Tuesday, 5 May 2026. Some of the most popular destinations included Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen.
According to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., the national railway encountered a huge success during the 2026 May Day holiday. The number of railway passenger trips exceeded 100 million, reaching 117 million as of Monday, 4 May 2026.
The holiday weekend started strong in terms of train travel, with 24.8 million passengers registered on 1 May. That number immediately meant a new single-day record according to the China State Railway Group. 2,070 additional trains were scheduled to meet demand.
@cgtneurope Traveling across China during the national holiday could be crazy. From Shanghai to Beijing, tourist hotspots were packed with people on May 1, the first day of China’s Labor Day holiday, as millions are swarming into those cities. On Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, users have been sharing videos from the Bund in Shanghai, Forbidden City in Beijing and Hongyadong in Chongqing. All are popular tourist destinations – and now all are full of happy crowds. #ChinaMoments #MayDay #holiday #Chinatravel #China #Forbiddencity #thebund #Shanghai #chongqing ♬ original sound – CGTN Europe
Although official numbers have not yet been shared, the state railway expected another 23 million passengers to travel on Tuesday, 5 May, with 2,225 extra train services planned to navigate on the final day of the May Day holiday. The railway’s official booking platform shows that Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen were among the most popular options.
Aside from the high passenger volume, the railway also noted that the system has operated safely and smoothly, partly due to the extra services that had been added over the weekend.
The railway was not the only means of transportation to score well during the May Day holiday in China. Overall, 1.52 billion cross-regional trips were made during the weekend, with many people choosing to travel by car. Waterway and air traffic were also projected to increase, although official data have not yet been communicated at the time of writing.
May Day holiday
Traditionally, the May Day holiday is one of China’s most popular public holiday periods of the year. According to the state-run China Global Television Network, in 2026, the Chinese moved away from some of the most crowded landmarks and went looking for “meaningful, hands-on cultural encounters.”
“This year’s Government Work Report called for promoting high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry and expanding integrated formats spanning culture, tourism, sports and commerce. The policy push is now being echoed across the country, with dozens of provinces and major cities rolling out new models and consumption scenarios at scale, laying a solid foundation for growth in China’s cultural and tourism market. As consumption shifts from sightseeing to immersive experiences, travellers are staying longer and spending more per capita, underscoring a broader transformation in China’s tourism consumption model,” CGTN writes.
Intangible cultural heritage experiences in Suzhou, indoor ice-climbing in Chengdu, paper making in Jingxian County, the Jiangsu Football City League, and immersive activities such as fruit picking and hiking were among the strongest climbers in terms of popularity.
