China’s railway network broke passenger records during the long May Day holiday as millions hit the rails. Meanwhile, a shift towards budget-conscious destinations such as the African coast, coupled with rising fuel costs, signalled a cautious consumer landscape despite the surge in mobility.
China’s Ministry of Transport said on Wednesday that “cross-regional” trips during the holiday reached nearly 1.52 billion, a 3.49 per cent increase over the 2025 break, and a record high for the period.
The 24.84 million railway trips on the first day of the break were a single-day high, according to official data from the China State Railway Group. And the total volume reached 117 million during the five-day “golden week” that ran from Friday to Tuesday and marks China’s Labour Day.
