China Sees Sharp YoY Increase in National Day Travel According to Didi Data

Didi Chuxing released a summary of the travel data for the 2019 National Day holiday that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The data shows that the order volume on September 30, one day before the holiday officially started, surpassed the figures of previous years. Didi orders to airports and railway stations increased sharply. Harbin demonstrated the most stunning results among provincial capitals with an almost 50% increase year-on-year. Among the first-tier cities, Shanghai’s growth was also significant, exceeding 40%.

Didi’s data gives interesting insights into Chinese tourist behavior. For instance, on the first day of the holiday on October 1, most users aimed to arrive at the airport or train station at around 5am to get the earliest flight or train and arrive at the destination as early as possible. As for returns, traffic increased from roughly noon to 6pm on October 7, peaking at 3pm.

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Didi also ranked the Chinese cities most popular with tourists by analyzing the number of cab orders made from phone numbers registered outside the cities of the phone’s location. The top ten cities with the largest number of orders from outside numbers were Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Xi’an and Wuhan.

These estimates also draw a picture of the flow and distribution of travelers, showing that most Didi users chose to travel within their provinces of residence or nearby cities. For example, Shenzhen users generally went to cities in Guangdong Province. Most users from Chengdu traveled to Chongqing and the majority of Hangzhou locals went to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.