Tongcheng Travel: AI search interest in Lantern Festival events increased by over 40%.
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, various lantern festivals and riddle-guessing activities across the country have stimulated enthusiasm for holiday travel. An increasing number of consumers are using AI tools to obtain customized travel plans for the Lantern Festival. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that as of 4:00 PM on March 2nd, the search interest in 'lantern festivals' using DeepTrip, a travel intelligence agent under Tongcheng Travel, increased by over 40% compared to the same period last week. Among users’ AI searches, lantern festivals in destinations such as Shanghai, Shenyang, Zigong, Nanjing, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Datong received the most attention.
This year’s Lantern Festival falls on a weekday, prompting many tourists to head directly to lantern festivals and temple fairs after work, maximizing the festive spirit. According to Tongcheng Travel data, on the day of the Lantern Festival, the popularity of domestic nighttime theme attractions increased by more than 17% compared to the same period last week, with popular 'lantern festival' and 'temple fair' themed attractions seeing growth exceeding 20%. Amidst the festive atmosphere, Yalong Tropical Rainforest Scenic Area and Qingdian Luzhi Night Tour Scenic Area, both under Tongcheng Travel, continued to maintain high popularity. On the day of the Lantern Festival, ticket booking interest for Qingdian Luzhi, driven by intangible cultural heritage performances and immersive NPC interactions, grew by over 15% compared to the same period last year.
Tongcheng Travel data indicates that considering both lantern festival search interest and ticket booking popularity, the top ten hottest lantern festivals on the day of the Lantern Festival were: the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival (Zigong), the 40th Qinhuai Lantern Festival (Nanjing), the 2026 Yu Garden Lantern Festival (Shanghai), the 2026 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Lantern Festival (Guangzhou), the 2026 Datong Ancient City Lantern Festival, the 2026 Shenyang Thousand Lanterns Festival, the 24th 'Two Horses Celebrating Spring Together' Lantern Festival (Fuzhou), the 2026 Chongqing New Year Lantern Festival, the 2026 Tianjin International Lantern Festival, and the 2026 Chang'an Lantern Festival (Xi’an).
While diverse lantern festivals and temple fairs illuminate the nightlife of the holiday season, this year's Lantern Festival moon viewing also presents 'highlights'. On the evening of the Lantern Festival, China will experience the only total lunar eclipse of 2026. This is also the only conjunction of the Lantern Festival with a total lunar eclipse within the next 46 years.
According to Tongcheng Travel data, as of 4:00 PM on March 2nd, among the top ten popular moon-viewing spots, not only well-known scenic sites like West Lake in Hangzhou, the Bund in Shanghai, the Corner Tower of Beijing's Forbidden City, Tianjin Eye, Canton Tower, Jinji Lake in Suzhou, and Yulong River Scenic Area in Guilin Lijiang, but also popular stargazing tourism destinations like Xichong International Dark Sky Community in Shenzhen, Huanglong International Dark Sky Park in Sichuan, and Gaotiankeng Village in Kaihua County, Quzhou City, Zhejiang, have seen robust search interest. Among these, search interest for Xichong International Dark Sky Community in Shenzhen has surged by over 110% compared to the same period last week, leading the domestic list of popular moon-viewing spots.
