China’s tourism market in full flower as spring arrives

Saturday, March 9, 2024

The blossoming of trees across China not only heralds the arrival of spring, but has also boosted the tourism market.

The daily ticketing orders for scenic areas featuring blossoming scenery has grown nearly 50 percent recently from the same period last year, according to a Shanghai-based online travel operator.

On Friday which marked International Women’s Day, flower appreciation orders from female users soared 150 percent from the same day last year, it said.

The flower appreciation boom has also triggered a rise in photo tourism with relevant bookings growing more than 30 percent since March compared with February.

Turtle Head Isle, or Yuantouzhu, which has one of the largest cherry orchards in the country, in Wuxi, neighbouring Jiangsu Province, Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Jiming Temple in Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Chenshan Botanical Garden and Gucun Park in Shanghai are popular spots to view cherry blossoms, according to a source.

Nyingchi in southwest China‘s Xizang Autonomous Region, known for its dreamy pink visual feast of peach blossoms, Wuyuan Huangling scenic area in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, which boasts a golden carpet of canola flowers, and Luoyang International Peony Garden in Luoyang, Henan Province are also gaining popularity.

Travel review website Mafengwo said it has witnessed a significant increase of long-distance trips to the Gala Peach Blossom Village in Nyingchi and Apricot Flower Dyke in Turgen Village, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with their popularity index growing 132 percent and 120 percent in the latest week.

The popularity index of Chengdu, Shanghai and Wuhan also soared for the pink and golden sea of cherry blossoms and canola flowers.

Meanwhile, some niche spots such as Yongfu Cherry Blossom Garden in Fujian Province and Jiapeng Village in Anhui Province that boasts a terrace canola flower scenery, emerged as new popular destinations among experienced travellers this year, according to Mafengwo.

And the popularity index of Japan surged over 200 percent in the recent week with the predicted opening time of cherry blossoms, route design and niche appreciation spots the most asked about, it said.

Online travel operator Tuniu said tourists from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Nanjing and Shenyang show more interest in flower appreciation, with female tourists accounted for nearly 61 percent.

Those aged between 26 and 35 years old and retirees are the majority of flower appreciation travellers, it said.

Shanghai Spring Tour has launched about 10 new flower appreciation routes to satisfy the rising demand and organized some Shanghai shutterbugs to Luoping County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, to take photos of the canola flowers.

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