Jia Xiaohong didn't understand why her niece insisted that they stay longer in the city of Hangzhou while they made plans for a week-long trip in scenic cities in southern China.

They kick-started the trip after the 18-year-old niece has secured an offer from a top-ranking university in Shanxi, a land-locked province in northern China.

"She basically checked all the places and tried most dishes mentioned in adventure novel series Daomu Biji," said Jia.

Her niece has been a fan of the novel series, which have been made into multiple television shows called The Lost Tomb Series. The novel's protagonist Wu Xie lives in Hangzhou and various plots in the novel are inextricably linked to the city. In 2012, part of the series was translated into English as The Grave Robbers' Chronicles. 

To welcome these novel fans, Hangzhou launched special stamp rally routes in August so that they can easily visit major locations featured in the novel series. Those who collected all stamps successfully shared their souvenirs online, attracting even more young people.

"We have a tight schedule, covering various places in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. It's hot outside, but there's still a lot of fun," said Jia. "All tourist spots are crowded, full of parents who seize the summertime to travel around with their children."

The search volume of family trips increased by 430 percent year-on-year in July, according to local life service platforms such as Meituan and Dianping.

Trips are increasing

Family trips in China are on the rise in July and August – a time when most students are on summer break. The country saw 614 million railway passenger trips between July 1 and August 15, data from the national railway operator China State Railway Group (CSRG) showed.

The average daily number of railway passengers reached over 13 million in the first 10 days of August, marking an increase of 72 percent from the same period last year and 13 percent over the same period in 2019.

Air passenger flows have also been increasing. The total number of air passengers surpassed 62.4 million in July, a year-on-year increase of 84 percent and an increase of 5 percent over the same period in 2019, according to data from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Meanwhile, international flights are still recovering, with a total of 3.4 million passengers transported in July.

The number of passengers at Beijing Capital International Airport surpassed 5 million in July, and the average daily passenger throughput reached 169,000 in August. In July, the number of international travelers increased nearly 40 percent, compared to June.

A new front

Ma Lijie has been working as a tour guide for nearly a decade in Shanghai. Since the beginning of 2023, she began to live-stream on short-video sharing platforms to attract clients. 

Using the famous Bund as the background, she interacts with followers by answering their questions about traveling in Shanghai. So far, she has accumulated nearly 50,000 followers.

Travel agencies also tap into the potential of live-streaming. Wang Buguo, a travel agency manager in Shanghai said introducing scenic spots through live-streaming is visually attractive for consumers and the agency has designed new products based on demand  they receive from viewers during live-streaming sessions.

Sun Yunlong, deputy director of the Department of Tourism at Fudan University, said the new promotion method brings new momentum to China's tourism industry, creating new job positions, meeting diversified and customized travel needs, and popularizing tourist destinations.