Tourism market in full flower with arrival of spring
The blossoming of trees across the nation not only heralds the arrival of spring, but has also boosted the tourism market.
The daily ticketing orders for scenic areas featuring blossoming scenery has grown nearly 50 percent recently from the same period last year, according to Shanghai-based online travel operator Trip.com.
On Friday which marked International Women's Day, flower appreciation orders from female users soared 150 percent from the same day last year, it said.
The flower appreciation boom has also triggered a rise in photo tourism with relevant bookings growing more than 30 percent since March compared with February.
Pink blooms at Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden.
Turtle Head Isle, or Yuantouzhu, which has one of the largest cherry orchards in the country, in Wuxi, neighboring Jiangsu Province, Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Jiming Temple in Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Chenshan Botanical Garden and Gucun Park in Shanghai are popular spots to view cherry blossoms, according to Trip.com.
Nyingchi in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, known for its dreamy pink visual feast of peach blossoms, Wuyuan Huangling scenic area in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, which boasts a golden carpet of canola flowers, and Luoyang International Peony Garden in Luoyang, Henan Province are also gaining popularity.
Travel review website Mafengwo said it has witnessed a significant increase of long-distance trips to the Gala Peach Blossom Village in Nyingchi and Apricot Flower Dyke in Turgen Village, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with their popularity index growing 132 percent and 120 percent in the latest week.
It's time to appreciate a green and golden natural carpet.
The popularity index of Chengdu, Shanghai and Wuhan also soared for the pink and golden sea of cherry blossoms and canola flowers.
Meanwhile, some niche spots such as Yongfu Cherry Blossom Garden in Fujian Province, and Jiapeng Village in Anhui Province that boasts a terrace canola flower scenery, emerged as new popular destinations among experienced travelers this year, according to Mafengwo.
And the popularity index of Japan surged over 200 percent in the recent week with the predicted opening time of cherry blossoms, route design and niche appreciation spots the most asked about, it said.
Cherry blossoms along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.
Online travel operator Tuniu said tourists from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Nanjing and Shenyang show more interest in flower appreciation, with female tourists accounted for nearly 61 percent.
Those aged between 26 and 35 years old and retirees are the majority of flower appreciation travelers, it said.
Shanghai Spring Tour has launched about 10 new flower appreciation routes to satisfy the rising demand and organized some Shanghai shutterbugs to Luoping County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, to take photos of the canola flowers.
"We will organize tour groups for peach blossom appreciation from mid and late March when the flower is in full bloom, and we have received quite a number of inquiries and bookings from photo buffs," said Wu Hong, general manager of the travel operator.
A Shanghai resident surnamed Wu is ready to embark a journey to Nyingchi.
"I have been very eager for the trip for a long time," he said. "I am now learning photo taking skills from a teacher of our tour group and practising flower shooting at parks in Shanghai."
