The Great Wall is packed with people, camels are 'stuck' in the desert during Golden Week

This year, China's Golden Week, which celebrates National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival, lasts eight days (October 1-8). It is the second longest holiday of the year for the people of this country.

Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, Hubei Province, central China, on the morning of October 1. Photo: Xinhua News

On the first day of the holiday, highways across China were jammed with vehicles. Transport networks saw record numbers of people traveling.

Traffic jams lasting for hours have forced people to think of ways to entertain themselves on the highway, such as fishing or playing badminton, according to HK01.

People enter and exit Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, October 1. Photo: Xinhua News

Meanwhile, on October 1, China's railway industry also set a new record when it reached 23.13 million train trips in one day, an increase of about 8% compared to last year.

The situation is similar at airports. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the total number of passengers nationwide is estimated at 2.2 million, up 3.6% from the same period last year. About 19,000 flights were operated on the first day. Major airports such as those in Beijing and Shanghai reached 90-95% of capacity.

Compared with previous years, the scale of tourism during Golden Week continued to recover strongly. In 2024, during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, China recorded 765 million domestic tourism trips, an increase of 5.9% over the previous year, with tourism spending reaching about 700.8 billion yuan (2,382 trillion VND).

2025 is expected to continue to exceed or approximate that figure, especially with extended holidays and high domestic travel demand.

Badaling is the most famous and visited section of the Great Wall in China, located in Yanqing County, about 70km from the center of Beijing. Photo: China News

Famous tourist attractions such as the Great Wall in Badaling and Temple of Heaven Park (Beijing) were packed with tourists from the very beginning.

People ride camels on the sand dunes of Mingsha and Crescent Lake in Dunhuang, Gansu province, China on the morning of October 2. Photo: China Press

A similar scene unfolded on the sand dunes of the Mingsha-Creekha Lake Scenic Area in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Hundreds of camels caused a traffic jam on the desert sand dunes.

According to the management board, on October 2 alone, the scenic area recorded 12,000 camel rides, reaching maximum capacity.

The Jiuzhaigou area (Sichuan) also had to issue a notice that the tickets for the days from October 2 to 6 were "sold out", the online ticket sales system was temporarily suspended and switched to a pre-registration system before the entrance day.

In addition, a prominent trend this year in China is the "spread" to small tourist spots, counties, and suburban towns instead of focusing only on big cities or famous spots.

Data from the booking platform shows that niche tourist attractions and rural homestays have grown strongly, with many county areas seeing an increase in overnight bookings of more than 50% compared to the previous year.

Tourists climbing famous mountain encountered 'disaster', crowded in toilet CHINA - Heavy rain during the holiday season left many tourists stranded on Mount Taishan (Shandong province).

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/van-ly-truong-thanh-kin-nguoi-lac-da-ket-cung-giua-sa-mac-trong-tuan-le-vang-2449289.html