China welcomes its longest-ever Spring Festival break, with Malaysia rising as one of the top travel destinations

Beijing / Kuala Lumpur, Jan 13 — China’s Spring Festival holiday will span nine consecutive days this year, widely described as the “longest-ever Spring Festival break,” fueling a sharp rise in outbound travel demand. Malaysia has emerged as one of the popular destinations.

Chinese media cited data released on Monday (Jan 12) by online travel platform Tongcheng Travel, showing that bookings for Spring Festival outbound travel products have entered a peak period. Searches and reservations for items such as individual tourist visas, flights, hotels, and packaged group tours around the holiday have all exceeded levels seen during the same period in 2025.

Southeast Asia remains a top choice for Chinese travelers spending the New Year abroad. As of Jan 12, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bali were all ranked among the top 10 most-booked international flight destinations for the holiday. The platform’s data also indicated that Russia continued to hold the No. 1 spot among the top 10 outbound vacation destinations.

The extended break has also boosted interest in long-haul travel. Demand for destinations such as Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and Egypt rose notably, with year-on-year increases ranging from 63% to 155%.

On the demand side, enthusiasm has surged in non–first-tier cities, particularly across central and western China. Among the top 15 outbound travel source markets for the holiday, cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Urumqi, Taiyuan, and Changsha accounted for roughly 40%. Meanwhile, coastal cities remain major contributors, with Hangzhou standing out by surpassing Guangzhou to become the fourth-largest outbound travel source city after Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.

According to the official holiday schedule, the Spring Festival break runs from Feb 15 to Feb 23 (nine days), with make-up workdays arranged on Feb 14 and Feb 28.

Commentators added that while the “longest-ever” holiday may be transitional rather than permanent, it can be seen as a significant policy trial. If the outcome is positive, it may offer lessons for optimizing future public holiday arrangements.