Graduation trips become popular option during summer vacation

The number of searches for graduation trips has been soaring on several online travel platforms in China, and flight bookings made by people aged between 17 and 19 have seen a remarkable increase.

Tourists visit the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou city, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo/Chen Liang)

Qunar.com, an online travel service provider, said the number of searches for graduation trips began to surge at 6 p.m. on June 10. Coastal cities including Xiamen, Qingdao, Haikou, Sanya, Weihai, Dalian, Fuzhou, and Qinhuangdao are popular destinations for Chinese graduates.

Beijing tops the list of this year's popular Chinese destinations for graduation trips issued by online travel platform Mafengwo. Scenic spots with profound culture, including the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China, and the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, are particularly popular among tourists.

Graduation trips have become an important means for young Chinese tourists to appreciate the beautiful scenery and colorful cultures across the country, and feel the beauty of life.

Qiu Tian, a high school graduate, visited Yichun city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province to avoid the summer heat in the Lesser Khingan Mountains and enjoy the picturesque scenery there shortly after the end of the college entrance exam. With rich forest resources, the city attracts tourists from across the country every summer.

Tourists enjoy Shibi town, Qionghai city, south China's Hainan Province. (Photo/Meng Zhongde)

Zhang Pengfei, a college graduate who will pursue a master's degree this September at a university in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, planned to visit the Zijin Mountain scenic spot in Nanjing, the Yuantouzhu (Turtle Head Isle) scenic spot in Wuxi city, and the Tianmu Lake scenic area in Changzhou city, among others.

"I will study in Jiangsu for three years. So I want to visit places in the province during the summer vacation," Zhang said.

Xu Jia, a high school graduate in Wuxi, went on holiday with her parents in Yanjiaqiao, a village with a thriving rural tourism in Xishan district of the city in late June. Xu seldom visited rural areas in the past.

During her stay in the village, Xu visited a night market every day and sometimes watched live performances, including Pingtan, a style of ballad singing in Suzhou dialect with Chinese instruments, and saxophone performances, which changed her stereotypical image of the countryside.

"Before I came here, I never thought that a village could be modern and fashionable. From the layout of the village and villagers' smiles, I see what China's countryside looks like in the new era and will cherish more today's good life," Xu said.

Some scenic areas have launched preferential policies for students. For instance, 43 national 3A-level tourist attractions and above in Zaozhuang city, east China's Shandong Province cut or exempt ticket prices for college students across the country before Aug. 31.

This year's high school graduates can visit the Xi'an city wall scenic spot in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province free of charge between June 9 and Aug. 31 after showing their college entrance exam admission cards and ID cards.