China Mobile Tracking: Foreign Tourists and Road-Trippers Drive China’s 2026 Golden Week Travel Boom

Big data released at the close of China’s 2026 National Day holiday shows significant expansion in inter-provincial road trips and a sharp surge in immersive foreign tourism, as travelers ventured further and explored deeper into regional destinations. Telecommunications data from China Mobile’s Wutong platform revealed an average travel distance of 345 kilometers per tourist during the combined Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday period. Inter-provincial trips accounted for 53 percent of overall domestic travel, up two percentage points from the previous year. Return passenger flows peaked beginning Oct. 6 toward major metropolitan hubs including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing, while daily active…