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Year of the Horse: a record 9.5 billion trips and a nine-day holiday test China's shoppers

China's 40-day Lunar New Year travel season began in early February, ahead of the Year of the Horse on 17 February. Malay Mail, carrying a Reuters report on 2 February, said a state planning official expected a record 9.5 billion passenger trips, up from 9.02 billion last year. The public holiday runs for nine days, from 15 to 23 February.

Flight data firm Flight Master counted more than 4.13 million domestic flight bookings by mid-January, up about 21% on a year earlier. Southeast Asia accounted for nearly half of outbound flights, with Thailand among the top destinations, while Japan-bound routes were down more than 40%.

“If you don't buy early, the price range fluctuates a lot, and can even double.” — Liu, traveller at Guangzhou airport, via Malay Mail

The research firm eMarketer broke the travel forecast down into 540 million trips by rail and 95 million by air, and asked whether the movement will turn into spending. Retail sales grew only 1.3% year on year in November and 0.9% in December 2025, and it pointed to weak consumer confidence, the property downturn and fading discount effects.

How each outlet framed it

• Malay Mail — a traveller's view: record trip numbers, booking surges, fare swings and where people are flying.
• eMarketer — a shopper's view: Lunar New Year as “the first real read on how Chinese consumers are feeling in 2026”, with a modest retail recovery expected.

Where the numbers differ: Both reports describe this year's break as nine days, but Malay Mail says last year's lasted eight days, while eMarketer says seven. Neither explains whether weekends or make-up working days are counted.