Vehicles bound for returning journeys from Spring Festival holiday line up as they pass a toll station on G40 highway in Chuzhou, East China"s Anhui Province on February 22, 2026. Photo: VCG

　　China"s Year of the Horse Spring Festival holiday, featuring a record-long nine days, concluded on Monday and unleashed a surge in tourism and consumer spending, with multiple key indicators reaching historic highs.

　　Beyond the numbers, this year"s holiday has revealed something deeper: a transformation in how Chinese consumers spend and what that spending signals for the broader economy.

　　From record passenger flows to evolving travel behaviors and robust retail activity, the Spring Festival served not merely as a seasonal reunion, but as a barometer of China"s consumption resilience and structural upgrading.

　　Data from the Ministry of Transport showed that in the first 20 days of the Spring Festival travel rush, cross-regional trips nationwide totaled 5.08 billion, averaging 250 million per day - a record high for the same period. Daily trips are expected to reach 376.63 million toward the end of the holiday, marking this year"s peak travel volume.

　　Shifting spending patterns

　　The record-long break has prompted distinctive consumption behaviors.

　　Long-haul travel surged as extended leave allowed more cross-regional trips and deeper experiences. Data from China travel agency Mafengwo showed that journeys lasting more than five days accounted for 59.6 percent of total bookings, while family travelers made up 68 percent of the market. Three-generation trips represented 34 percent of bookings, underscoring the growing dominance of family-centered decision-making.