China’s Spring Festival: Blockbusters Fuel Movie-Inspired Tourism Boom | Xinhua

Beijing/Shanghai, February 22, 2026 – China’s Spring Festival holiday is experiencing a surge in domestic tourism driven by the popularity of recent blockbuster films, reshaping travel patterns and injecting vitality into the country’s cultural and economic landscape.

The total box office revenue for the Spring Festival period, including pre-sales, has exceeded 4 billion yuan (approximately 576 million U.S. Dollars) as of Saturday, with the racing-comedy “Pegasus 3” leading the charts, according to online ticketing platforms. However, the impact of the film extends far beyond cinema attendance, prompting a significant increase in travel to locations featured in the movie.

Data from the travel platform Qunar reveals a 40 percent increase in hotel bookings in Garze, Sichuan Province – a primary shooting location for “Pegasus 3” – compared to last year’s Spring Festival holiday. Bookings in Delingha, Qinghai Province, another key filming site, have jumped even more dramatically, rising by 71 percent. “As soon as I finished watching ‘Pegasus 3,’ I rushed to plan a family spring trip to Garze to check in the racetrack featured in the film,” said Xia Lin, a car enthusiast from Shanghai and a long-time fan of the “Pegasus” franchise, which debuted in 2019.

The phenomenon isn’t limited to rural locations. Shanghai is witnessing a new wave of themed city tours, with landmarks appearing in “Pegasus 3” – including metro lines, bridges, parks, and other city features – becoming popular destinations for fans. This trend suggests a shift in how Chinese audiences engage with film, moving beyond passive viewership to active participation in the worlds depicted on screen.

“During this year’s Spring Festival season, the driving effect of films on culture and tourism has come earlier than usual,” observed Yang Han, a researcher at Qunar’s Big Data Research Institute, indicating a growing anticipation among fans to visit filming locations even before a film’s release.

The appeal extends to other recent releases. “Blades of the Guardians,” an action film directed by Yuen Woo-ping and starring Jet Li and Wu Jing, has spurred a 60 percent increase in searches for desert sightseeing and desert highway tours ahead of its release, focusing attention on the dramatic landscapes of Xinjiang in northwest China. This demonstrates the potential of film to highlight less-traveled regions and diversify tourism offerings.

This convergence of film and tourism is not merely organic; We see increasingly a systematic and policy-driven initiative. The China Film Administration (CFA) has launched a series of initiatives in 2026, including campaigns such as “Travel with Films,” “Taste Cuisine with Films,” and “Shopping with Films,” designed to integrate the film industry with other sectors of the economy.

Local governments are actively responding to these initiatives. In Guangdong Province, the release of Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller “Scare Out” has catalyzed a province-wide travel campaign, with officials unveiling 60 film-themed travel routes spanning 21 cities. These routes integrate film screenings with dining, retail, and cultural promotions.

Similar efforts are underway in Shanghai’s Hongkou District, where 11 cinemas have partnered with commercial and cultural venues to create immersive “New Year in the Movies” experiences, offering discounts for ticket stubs and interactive installations. Sichuan Province distributed more than 4 million yuan in movie consumption vouchers between February 8th and 19th, combining film discounts with subsidies for dining and tourism.

Experts suggest this “film+” model represents a maturation of China’s holiday consumption structure. Spring Festival moviegoing, once primarily a form of entertainment, is evolving into a ritualized cultural activity intertwined with family reunions and experiential travel. “A film’s value lies not only in its box office performance, but also in the ripple effects it generates across tourism, catering and other sectors,” said Hou Keming, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy. “The economic and cultural impact now extends far beyond the screen.”

The success of this model is particularly significant for rural communities featured in popular productions, offering new economic opportunities and promoting regional development. The trend reflects a broader shift in China’s economic strategy, moving beyond a solely box-office-driven model to a more diverse and integrated consumption economy, bolstered by government support and a growing appetite for immersive cultural experiences.