Look at the moon! People plan Mid-Autumn Festival travel

With the clock ticking down to the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from September 15 through 17, activities related to the traditions of the festival, such as moon viewing, lantern shows and garden tours, have captured the attention of Chinese travelers.

"Chinese-style night tours" centered around moon viewing culture have become the hot cultural tourism item during this year's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, according to a recent report by online travel operator Tongcheng Travel.

The reverence for traditional culture has boosted the popularity with tourists of "moon viewing flights," night cruises, ancient town garden tours and lantern shows, it said.

Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou are among the top three domestic destinations during the holiday based on booking statistics.

Among them, Suzhou's festival travel is gaining popularity with activities such as crab tasting, moon viewing, as well as Suzhou's classical garden visit, favored by young travelers, according to the report.

The blockbuster video game "Black Myth: Wukong" has triggered a tourism craze to cities where the game was filmed, such as Datong and Shuozhou, making them dark horse destinations for the festival.

In the latest week, the search popularity for night tours of ancient towns and gardens in China has increased by 77 percent compared with a week earlier, and the search popularity for night cruises has increased by 42 percent, the travel operator said.

With one eye on the festival and the other on a boom in full moon watching, cruise operators have scheduled voyages spanning the holiday.

The "Blue Dream Melody" cruise liner will operate a five-day route to Fukuoka in Japan from Shanghai North Bund International Passenger Center Cruise Terminal in Hongkou District from September 14, which has been a popular option for those wanting to appreciate the full moon while at sea.

The ship can host 1,580 passengers and boasts six restaurants, four bars, and a cafe, as well as a theater, swimming and spa facilities, and a beauty salon.

According to data from FlightAI, a market insight platform under China's global travel service provider Trip.com, the average one-way tax-inclusive airfare within the country during the holiday is about 770 yuan (US$108.25), 25 percent lower than last year's Mid-Autumn Festival which coupled with the National Day holiday.

The proportion of tours to neighboring areas during the holiday was nearly half of total bookings, and Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Suzhou were the most popular domestic destinations during the time, according to Trip.com.

Currently, the travel radius for Mid-Autumn high-speed train trips is about 361 kilometers, a decrease of nearly 30 percent compared to the first three days of the Mid-Autumn holiday last year, and it takes about an hour on average to reach the destination.

Many young travelers would spend their holiday camping, hiking, or attending music festivals as people seek more comfortable and lifestyle-oriented travel, Trip.com said.

The enthusiasm for inbound tourism during the festival remained undiminished as the search popularity for hotels receiving inbound travelers increased by nearly 20 percent from the same period a year earlier, showing the continuous recovery of the international tourism market, the travel operator said.

In Shanghai, orders for inbound tourism during the holiday have soared 252 percent from the same period last year, and the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Disney Resort, Shanghai L*SNOW Indoor Skiing Theme Resort, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park are some of the popular destinations, according to Trip.com.