China braces for May holiday surge as Covid-19 threat recedes

Travel demand is expected to explode as health officials give their blessing to enjoy the break without fear of the pandemic
Huge numbers are expected to be on the move as many families reunite for the first time since the new coronavirus emerged

China society

Jane Caiin Beijing

Published: 12:00pm, 25 Apr 2021

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Beijing lawyer Stella Wan left on Thursday for the resort city of Sanya in the southern island province of Hainan to beat the crowds expected to flock to “China’s Hawaii” for the five-day public holiday which starts on May 1.

“I applied for several days’ annual leave before the holiday, so that I can set off early and avoid the peak period,” the 34-year-old said.

“So many people talk about their holiday plans passionately these days. I guess we’ll see a huge number of people on the move.”

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Travel demand, depressed since the end of 2019 because of the pandemic, is expected to rebound – and possibly explode – in the first major public holiday since Covid-19 cases stabilised in China. Long-distance travel was discouraged by the authorities for February’s Spring Festival, traditionally a time of family reunions, because of outbreaks in the north of the country.

Wan’s parents, who live in Shenyang, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, were under lockdown at the start of the year because of the coronavirus resurgence. “I’m longing for a holiday at the beach with my parents,” she said. It’s really good to be with my family. We haven’t been with each other for 18 months.”

A total of 250 million trips are expected to be made across China between April 30 and May 5, according to online travel booking platform TravelGo. That would surpass the 195 million trips taken during the 2019 holiday – before Covid-19 broke out – and a surge on last year’s 115 million.

As of Friday, more than 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered, according to official data. Apart from Ruili in Yunnan province on the China-Myanmar border – where a recent outbreak saw 93 infections reported as of Friday – health authorities have declared the rest of China “low risk” with no travel restrictions.

At a press conference earlier this month, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, declared it would be safe to “go outside and enjoy the spring” during the May Day holiday, while cautioning against mass gatherings.

“The effective control of the pandemic and authorities’ supportive attitude are expected to unleash travellers’ enthusiasm,” said analyst Fang Zexi from travel service platform Trip.com’s research institute. “We forecast an explosive surge in tourism demand from last year and it could be even higher than 2019.”

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According to Trip.com, as of April 14, holiday flight bookings were 23 per cent higher than the same period in 2019, hotels were up 43 per cent, while park and attraction tickets had surged by 114 per cent and car rentals by 126 per cent.

Qunar, another online travel service platform, said its flight bookings were 2,500 per cent higher than 2020, with tickets from Beijing to Sanya among the most popular. The demand has pushed up prices, with a one-way ticket from Beijing to the resort city on April 30 priced between 2,400 yuan (US$370) and 15,000 yuan.

The surge in prices and expected congestion on the railways convinced retired engineer Zhang Zhengtang to stay home for the holiday. “After giving up plans proposed by my daughter to visit Sanya or Qingdao [a coastal city in the eastern province of Shandong], I’ve decided to stay in Beijing,” he said. “I’ll go to parks and cinemas. On the top of my movies-to-see list is the new film by Zhang Yimou, my favourite director.”

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Cliff Walkers is one of 14 films expected to be released during the holiday and is Zhang’s first foray into the spy genre. Set in the 1930s, it follows four Communist Party special agents who return to China on a secret mission, after receiving training in the Soviet Union. However, they soon find themselves in deep water, after learning a traitor has sold them out.

Other domestic titles to be screened during the holiday week include the romance My Love, crime thriller Home Sweet Home, and Schemes in Antiques, a mystery, according to China’s largest film data platform Maoyan. Analysts with China International Capital Corp forecast box office receipts during the period to rise 11.6 per cent on 2019, to 1.7 billion yuan, with the number of cinema visits up 15 per cent to 40 million.

Unlike Zhang, migrant worker Mo Xian, 29, is undeterred by the prospect of a long journey. He is returning to his hometown in Zhumadian, in the central province of Henan, with his wife and son.

“Railway tickets were snapped up as soon as the tickets were released. I’ll borrow a car from my boss and drive 10 hours to reunite with my parents and grandparents,” he said.

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“It was a pity I didn’t go back for the Spring Festival. This time I’ll buy lots of gifts for my family members, relatives and friends,” said Mo, who also enjoyed a pay rise this year, thanks to a turnaround in his employer’s home decoration business.

Mo is not likely to be alone in spending big during the break. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, per capita disposable income reached 9,730 yuan in the first quarter of this year – up 13.7 per cent on last year, and 14.6 per cent compared to 2019. Per capita consumption of goods and services also rose, to nearly 6,000 yuan in the January to March period, up 17.6 per cent from 2020 and 8 per cent from 2019.

“I just can’t wait to start the holiday,” Mo said.