The Qingming Festival holiday for 2024 concluded on April 6. Over the three-day holiday, Sichuan's 865 A-class tourist attractions included in the provincial statistics welcomed 10.7862 million tourist visits, generating a ticket revenue of 100.4304 million yuan. Holiday travel primarily consists of short and medium-distance tours. High-speed trains and self-driving have emerged as the predominant modes of transportation for holidaymakers, leading to a more than 10 percent increase in the traffic volume on the provincial expressway network compared to the previous year. The reporter gathered information from the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and the Sichuan Provincial Department of Transport on the same day.
The cultural tourism market sees a comprehensive recovery and growth.
During the Qingming holiday, the 865 A-class tourist attractions included in the provincial statistics saw a 35.83 percent increase in tourist visits and an 89.45 percent surge in ticket revenues over the same period in 2023 with the same statistical caliber. When compared to the Qingming holiday in 2019, using the same statistical caliber, there was a 36.24 percent increase in visits and a 27.25 percent rise in revenues. These figures reflect a comprehensive recovery and growth in the cultural tourism market. Libraries, cultural centers and museums in the province have received a total of 1,894,200 visits.
Traditional customs such as ancestor worship, tomb sweeping, and spring outings have been maintained, while urban leisure tours and suburban excursions have emerged as the dominant patterns of holiday travel. Specialized cultural tourism activities, including parent-child study tours, folk customs experiences, and camping outings, have also gained popularity. The holiday cultural tourism offerings are abundant.
Many tourists visited red tourism sites and the former residences of notable figures to reminisce about great individuals and honor the memory of martyrs. Tourist sites such as Deng Xiaoping Native Place Tour, the Red Army Martyr Cemetery of Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base, and the Red Education Base in Sister Jiang's Hometown drew numerous tourists to pay homage and remember. Suburban excursions and urban micro-vacations have become the activities of choice. The province's major scenic spots and rural tourist attractions around counties (districts) have seen a surge in visitors. Activities such as farming experiences, intangible cultural heritage handicrafts, and cultural study tours are favored by many families for their parent-child outings. Folk cultural activities have been splendid. Traditional cultural theme events across various locations emerge as hot attractions for tourists during the three-day Qingming holiday. Attractions like the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, Jianmeng Pass in Guangyuan, and Ancient Qiang City of China in Maoxian County of Aba Prefecture, have hosted diverse folk cultural events that greatly enrich the holiday travel experience for tourists.
A-class tourist attractions are enjoying heightened popularity. Many tourist sites, such as Chengdu's Kuanzhai Alley, Eastern Suburb Memory, Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, Leshan's Suji Ancient Town, and Qionghai Lushan Scenic Area in Liangshan Prefecture, are on the list of increasingly sought-after destinations.
Chengdu Railway Station sent a record number of passengers.
As per the statistics and projections provided by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Transport as of 16:00 on April 6, the traffic volume on the province's expressway network during the Qingming holiday is anticipated to reach 10.738 million vehicles. This figure represents a 13 percent increase compared to the Qingming holiday and each day preceding and following it (the same below) in 2019, and a 36 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023. The total volume of traffic entering Sichuan is projected to reach 361,000 vehicles, a 32.1 percent increase from the same period in 2019, while the volume leaving the province is expected to be 342,000 vehicles, up by 33.2 percent compared to 2019. These figures show a slight decrease of 1.6 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, compared to the same period in 2023. Expressway traffic predominantly consists of short-distance trips within the province. High traffic volumes are noted on several expressways, including the Chengdu-Ya'an Expressway, the Chengdu–Leshan Expressway, the Chengwenqiong Expressway, the Chengdu-Nanchong Expressway, the Chengguan Expressway, and the Dujiangyan-Wenchuan Expressway.
In railway operations, China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd. has added 102.5 pairs of temporary high-speed passenger trains within its jurisdiction, connecting cities such as Chongqing, Yibin, and Dazhou. Additionally, it has implemented double-heading locomotive operations on direct trains leading to popular destinations like Xi'an, Kunming, and Wuhan. This doubling of locomotive headers has also been applied to 175 pairs of high-speed trains on popular routes, including the Chengdu-Chongqing High-speed Railway and the Mianyang-Luzhou High-speed Railway. Railway passenger flow peaked on April 4, with Chengdu Railway Station setting a new historical record by handling a cumulative total of 501,000 passenger trips on that day. All stations under the jurisdiction of Chengdu Railway Station, including Chengdudong Railway Station, Chengdunan Railway Station, Shuangliu Airport Railway Station, and Tianfu Airport Railway Station, also experienced record-high passenger volumes.
