The new trend of May Day travel: Tens of thousands of college students become "e-bike knights", and renting cars for self-driving tours in the wilderness is popular.

On May 1, 2024, 22-year-old college student Axiang was driving on the "Rock Road" from Zhagulu Town in the north to Zhagana in Gannan.

In the scorching summer, as he spiraled up to an altitude of 4,000 meters, the scene before Axiang left a deep impression on him—the lush forests on both sides of the road gradually transitioned into snow-capped mountains, and the falling rain gradually turned into snow. Axiang drove more carefully, but his mood became more relaxed.

In the official promotion of Zhuoni County, Gansu, the "Rock Road" is described as a road that integrates grasslands, waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, caves, religious sites, and comprehensive natural and cultural landscapes. It is also known as one of the "most beautiful 100 kilometers" of extreme off-road routes in China.

After the tourism craze of 2023, the new concept that "life is not on a track but in the wilderness" has elevated the demands of young people for cost-effectiveness, expectations, and spiritual and cultural significance. The younger generation choosing to drive in the wilderness is not limited to Axiang, and the "self-driving" mode has even extended from driving cars to riding electric donkeys.

According to the "Insight into the 2024 May Day Special Travel Trend" released by Ctrip, nearly one-fourth of the charter travel orders during this year's May Day holiday chose to head to "wilderness" type tourist destinations. According to the forecast data provided by Hellobike, the demand for ride-sharing during the May Day holiday will reach 40 million trips, and Hellobike Rentals predicts that nearly 10,000 post-00s college students will rent small electric donkeys to "head to the mountains and seas" during the May Day holiday.

Riding electric donkeys for travel: "Renting 200 kilometers for 60 yuan a day, no need to compensate for minor scratches or dents"

Leisure cultural tourism has become a trend this year. Tianshui's spicy hot pot has made Gansu famous, and the matchmaker Wang Po has brought fame to Kaifeng. Unlike the previous superficial tourism of special forces or popular tourist spots, leisure cultural tourism emphasizes the experience driven by food and traditional culture.

Last May Day, Xiaobei was still a "special forces" in Nanjing, but this year he chose to travel to Yiwu, known as the "world's small commodity capital," with his friend Aling and others.

Upon arriving in Yiwu, the taxi driver proudly threw out a series of numbers to Xiaobei and Aling—800,000 permanent and transient foreigners, 75 foreign restaurants, house prices of 7-8 thousand yuan per square meter, a small county town with light rail, night markets open until 3 am, and 6 yuan for a ticket to see stars at Hengdian. Complete facilities and materials are gathered, and the convenient Yiwu Port for sea travel. The driver from Xizhen, the toy production town, almost wanted to finish the history of Yiwu in a 20-minute drive.

"After each point, the master would ask in return, 'It's not like that where you're from, right?'" Aling told the Times Weekly reporter in a cheerful tone. Xiaobei added, "Accepting local cultural popularization, eating 10 local delicacies in a day, how can it not be considered cultural tourism?"

On May 2, Xiaobei and his friends finished browsing the dazzling array of small commodities in Yiwu and moved to Lishui. He simply posted a few photos of small waterfalls on his Moments with the caption, "Emphasizing a relaxed travel experience."

Along with the culturally relaxing tourism, a new type of travel is also emerging—riding electric donkeys. This May Day holiday, many college students like Xiaobei have embarked on electric donkey self-driving tours.

Currently, in many scenic coastal cities, there is a large-scale deployment of two-wheeled electric vehicles. The average daily rental price in the electric vehicle rental market ranges from 40 yuan to 80 yuan, offering great value for money.

Not only professional travel service platforms like Hellobike, but also high demand has led individual stores and electric vehicle brands to join the rental market.

Taking the popular tourist city of Dali as an example, searching for "Dali, electric vehicle rental" on social platforms yields rental information. Many small-scale rental stores offer brands such as Yadea, Tailg, and Aima, with clear pricing based on mileage, usually ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan per day. Colorful sports cars and electric vehicles for rent can be seen everywhere near Erhai Lake and Xizhou.

Some rental businesses are provided by local stores of electric vehicle brands. The Times Weekly reporter noticed that a Tailg electric vehicle specialty store near Dali Ancient Town advertised "Rent 200 kilometers for 60 yuan a day, no need to compensate for minor scratches or dents."

"Dali is now full of single bikes and electric vehicles for daily or weekly rental, and there are also many shared electric vehicles," a stall owner under the city wall of Dali Ancient Town told the Times Weekly reporter.

This also means that direct rental electric vehicles are starting to compete with shared electric vehicles for users. Compared to direct rental vehicles, shared electric vehicles often have regional restrictions, and exceeding the limit results in locking or parking fines. At the same time, they are relatively more expensive, with starting prices of over 10 yuan per hour for operators like Qingju and Meituan, and a full day's playtime of 8 hours can cost over 80 yuan.

New trend in rental cars: Self-driving wilderness tours make the northwest a new favorite

This year's May Day holiday continues to see high popularity for self-driving tours favored by young people.

Axiong, who is about to graduate from university, plans to make good use of his last holiday. He told the Times Weekly reporter, "As graduation approaches, time is limited, so I have to go on a holiday trip. I deliberately chose Gannan, a relatively less crowded city compared to popular cities. It turns out that there are indeed much fewer people."

The report also shows that the charter tour bookings for popular routes have increased by nearly 40% compared to the previous year. The popular routes include the Qinghai-Gansu Loop, Xinjiang Loop, Hohhot Grassland Loop, Western Sichuan Loop, and Western Yunnan Loop, among which the Xinjiang Loop saw a 36% increase in bookings. Popular destinations for charter "wilderness tours" include Xining, Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi, Yining, Altay, Hohhot, Wulanchabu, Daocheng, and Lijiang.

From the perspective of cost-effectiveness, Axiang prefers car rentals: "Chartering a car in a vast city costs four to five hundred yuan per person per day, while the cost per person for renting a car for self-driving is less than one hundred yuan when shared. Self-driving is not only cheaper, but also offers more freedom in planning departure and rest times."

Although Axiang feels that there are "far fewer people" in Gannan, it is nevertheless a popular self-driving destination for young people during this year's May Day holiday in the entire northwest region.

According to the big data preview provided by Shenzhou Car Rental to Time Weekly, among the top 10 destinations with the highest rental rates during the holiday, four are in the northwest, namely Bayannur, Xining, Yili, and Zhongwei. In addition, the Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport store has entered the top 10 cities with the largest order volume among hub stores for the first time, and has also entered the top 10 cities with the largest order volume for "Generation Z" (post-90s and post-00s) users.

Tianyancha data shows that there are currently more than 1.35 million car rental-related companies in China. According to consulting agency forecasts, the market size of China's car rental industry will reach around 150 billion yuan by 2025.

In addition to car rentals, in recent years, with the implementation of the new national standard for electric bicycles and the rising popularity of electric motorcycles, China's electric two-wheeler industry has entered a new stage of high-quality development, laying a good foundation for the gradually emerging electric donkey rental market.

According to data from the China Bicycle Association, as of 2022, China's stock of electric two-wheelers is approximately 350 million, meaning there is one electric two-wheeler for every four people, surpassing the scale of cars. According to analysts at the China Industrial Research Institute, the sales of electric two-wheelers in China are expected to increase to 64.27 million units by 2023.

From urban areas to the wilderness, from driving to riding electric donkeys, the new "self-driving mode" and the emerging new travel rental market are budding and growing during this holiday.