Passengers wait in line at a railway station in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Jan 17, 2024. [Photo/VCG]

Travel bookings usher in peak season in China, weeks ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, which falls on Feb 10-17, news outlet ThePaper reported on Tuesday.

Data from Meituan and Dianping, China's major on-demand services providers, showed during Feb 9-17 tourism bookings, including homestay hotels, scenic spot tickets and transportation tickets, increased about seven times over the same period last year by Jan 21. The top destinations were Beijing, Shanghai, Sanya, Harbin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Xishuangbanna, and Beihai.

Ski resorts and hot springs are expected to witness peak demand during the festival. The popularity of Harbin continues with the advance bookings for Harbin much higher than the national market, ranking fourth in the country. The city provides Northeast China's festive atmosphere to tourists from the south. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou are the major tourist source places for Harbin.

Bookings for the dinner on the Spring Festival eve have also entered the peak period. Data from Meituan and Dianping show search volume for the dinner on the Spring Festival eve rose 40 percent from last week. As of Jan 21, the number of bookings was more than four times that of the same period last year. Geographically, residents in the first tier cities attach greater importance to the dinner on the Spring Festival eve. Statistics from Meiduan and Dianping show Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen rank the top five in term of booking volumes for the eve's dinner around the country.