An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 1, 2024 shows people camping underneath persimmon trees in Dongping Village of Quzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua)

　　NANNING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- On a crisp April morning, Pan Rongfeng, a middle school teacher in his 30s, pulled up to a verdant campsite at the foot of Daming Mountain, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, before unloading his dog and a panoply of camping gear from his car.

　　It was a cherished holiday ritual for Pan as he took to the great outdoors to savor his time off.

　　“Over the past two years, more and more people around me have started to turn to campsites for a little escape from urban life,“ said Pan. “As long as the weather is agreeable, I love to gather outdoors to unwind.“

　　In recent years, once a niche hobby, camping has broken into the mainstream across China, transforming the way people pursue quality time in their leisure.

　　Data from Meituan, a leading life services provider, highlighted the trend. During this year's Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese holiday where people are entitled to a block of days off, searches for “campgrounds“ in Guangxi skyrocketed 50 percent over the same period of last year.

　　The allure of such outdoor activity has not gone unnoticed on Chinese social media, with many camping-related posts amassing millions of views.

　　On rednote, a Chinese lifestyle app and the country's version of Instagram, the popularity of notes titled “camping tips“ and “campsite recommendations“ continued to rise before and during the five-day Labor Day holiday, while short-video platforms like Douyin have logged billions of plays for relevant content.