With the 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival (September 25-27) and National Day holiday (October 1-7) separated by just three working days, travelers are seizing the opportunity to take three days off (September 28-30) and create a 13-day vacation window. According to Qunar Travel data, early booking trends for this "super golden week" are significant, with hotel reservations for popular cities during the period up nearly 40% year-on-year, and flight bookings made a month in advance up 21% compared to last year. The number of people taking leave from September 28-30 has increased by 52% year-on-year.
Current Qunar Travel data shows the top 10 destinations for Mid-Autumn and National Day hotel bookings are Nanjing, Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Altay, Hulunbuir, Chongqing, and Jinan. Jay Chou's concert has boosted Qingdao hotel bookings by 20% year-on-year. For inbound tourism, large numbers of international visitors are flying to core Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang, Qingdao, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Dalian.
The most cost-effective National Day departure window begins on September 22, with airfares from September 27 to October 1 hitting a three-year low
Early departures are trending, driven primarily by price. Looking at average daily airfares, the working days before Mid-Autumn Festival represent the cheapest period around the entire holiday stretch. Departing on September 22 costs an average of 30% less than the first day of Mid-Autumn Festival (September 25) and 50% less than National Day on October 1. As the holiday span has lengthened, this National Day marks the "most price-friendly opening in three years," with average airfares from September 27 to October 1 hitting the lowest level for the same period in three years, and some popular routes coming in over 10% cheaper than last year.
Plenty of budget flight deals remain available for the long holiday. Qunar Travel data shows that departures from Beijing on September 27 to destinations such as Dalian, Shenyang, Daqing, and Yinchuan start at just over 300 RMB. For return travel, unlike previous years when return traffic was heavily concentrated in the final two days, this year's return flight demand is spread across October 4-7, smoothing the peak and lowering return costs. For example, airfares on October 4 are more than 20% cheaper than during the return period last year.
Segmented multi-destination travel increases by 20%
Previous National Day holidays featured a single travel peak, but with the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays connected this year, there are two distinct peaks. So far, more travelers are departing for the Mid-Autumn Festival than on National Day itself. Driven by pre-holiday off-peak bargain hunting, passenger numbers begin rising from September 22, and daily air travel volumes double year-on-year from September 23 onward. September 25, the first day of the holiday, marks the annual peak with a 1.7-fold year-on-year increase, while October 1 forms the second peak. With the combined holidays, many travelers are choosing segmented itineraries — a "dual-festival crossover" where they first visit family and then head off on vacation. The number of travelers booking flights to two or more destinations is up nearly 20% year-on-year.
The "invisible office" strategy: combined Mid-Autumn and National Day leave up 52%
Have your colleagues quietly requested leave? The highly cost-effective "take 3 days, rest 13" scheme has extended travel momentum into the working days surrounding the holidays, making seamless leave-to-vacation transitions a clear trend. The September 28-30 window also connected the weekend to National Day last year, but this year's early departure momentum is stronger. Qunar Travel data shows hotel bookings for September 28-30 have surged 52% year-on-year. These three bridging workdays between the two festivals account for 15% of total hotel bookings across the 13-day period, meaning at least one in every seven orders during the long holiday comes from "leave-takers." For office workers, Mid-Autumn and National Day represent the ultimate travel window. Among air travelers, those aged 23-40 comprise the largest group at over 50% combined, with the 31-40 segment growing 41% year-on-year — the fastest growth rate of any age bracket.
"Diagonal flights" for autumn scenery are the hottest trend
The extended break has made cross-country "diagonal flights" — spanning thousands of kilometers — the dominant booking choice. Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Qinghai have seen notable surges in popularity for autumn leaf-viewing. Flight patterns like "from the lower right of the map to the upper left" or "from the northwest to east China" define this year's extended holiday travel landscape. Bookings for popular routes over 2,000 kilometers have doubled year-on-year. The Lhasa-Shanghai route has grown 4.4-fold, Lhasa-Beiing 3.4-fold, and Lhasa-Guangzhou 3.3-fold. Routes such as Xining-Shanghai, Urumqi-Nanjing, and Urumqi-Wuhan have also roughly doubled. Smaller airport cities embracing autumn scenery first are seeing high demand. Qunar Travel data shows Yanji in Jilin ranks top among small-airport cities with a 3.8-fold booking surge, followed by Zhongwei in Ningxia and Altay in Xinjiang, both nearing double their flight bookings. Flights to "treasure hundred cities" at third-tier and below during the holidays have increased by over 30%, with Huangshan, Zunyi, Jinhua, and Xing'an League seeing notable gains.
With extra time, travelers are opting for slower, deep-dive self-drive trips. Domestic car rental orders have grown over 50% year-on-year, with Qunar Travel showing medium-to-long rentals are most popular — nearly 60% of users book for 3-7 days, followed by 32% booking 8-14 days. Orders in Urumqi, Lhasa, and Yining have more than doubled.
Concerts are back en masse: every popular commercial district has a show
The current top 10 hotel booking destinations for Mid-Autumn and National Day are Nanjing, Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Altay, Hulunbuir, Chongqing, and Jinan. Beyond natural scenery, following concerts to lock in holiday destinations early is a standout consumer trend this year. According to Qunar Travel, the top five commercial districts for holiday hotel bookings are all located near concert venues. The Phoenix Legend concert has boosted hotel bookings in Jinan's Olympic Sports Center/Wanda Plaza area by 12.8-fold year-on-year, raising citywide Jinan hotel bookings by 65% overall. G.E.M.'s concert lifted bookings around Shenzhen's Longgang Central District/Dayun New Town by 2.9-fold, while Jay Chou's concert boosted Qingdao hotel bookings by 20%. Multi-day concerts by Hua Chenyu have pushed Nanjing's hotel booking volume past Beijing to rank first nationwide. Qunar Travel data also shows residents of third-tier and below cities are the most travel-driven during the holidays, recording the highest flight purchase growth. Travelers from Ya'an in Sichuan and Qingyuan in Guangdong have doubled their flight purchases year-on-year, while Wanning in Hainan, Yangjiang in Guangdong, Liaoyang in Liaoning, Liupanshui in Guizhou, Tai'an in Shandong, and Zhangjiakou in Hebei all grew by over 80%. First-tier and new first-tier cities are the primary destination choices for these smaller-city residents, while outbound travel is also accelerating in lower-tier cities.
"Cross-border combined travel" gains traction: dual-country hotel orders up 1.2-fold
The extended holiday is similarly boosting long-haul outbound trips. Qunar Travel data indicates hotel bookings now span over 3,800 cities globally, with popular-country hotel bookings up 48% year-on-year and bookings for long-haul routes over 8,000 kilometers up more than 30%. Bangkok, Seoul, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, and Singapore — destinations within a "three-hour flight circle" — remain the core outbound market, with Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia topping the list of popular countries. As spring blooms in the Southern Hemisphere, bookings to Cape Town, South Africa have surged 4.3-fold. Additionally, visa-free policies and new routes are doubling flight bookings to destinations over 10,000 kilometers away, including São Paulo, Lisbon, and Santiago. Outbound travelers are also embracing "multi-country packages," with Qunar Travel showing orders combining two countries — like Singapore plus Malaysia, France plus Italy, and Kenya plus Tanzania — growing 1.2-fold year-on-year. For self-drive trips, outbound car rental orders during the holidays are up nearly seven-fold year-on-year, with the US, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Italy, and Norway leading demand. One-way rental drop-offs account for 34% of outbound orders, a higher share than domestic rentals. On the inbound side, the "golden September and silver October" period brings dense business events, fueling a robust combination of business and leisure travel. Large numbers of foreign tourists are flying into core Chinese cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang, Qingdao, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Dalian. Visitors to Zhuhai and Wenzhou have tripled, while those heading to Yiwu, Lhasa, Kunming, and Yichang have doubled. Leading source markets include Indonesia, the US, Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Singapore, Spain, and Russia.