The start of the five-day May Day holiday is fueling a travel frenzy across China, as large crowds of tourists flock to destinations big and small nationwide to make the most of the break.

The May Day holiday, running from May 1 to 5, is typically one of the busiest travel periods of the year. During this time, millions of Chinese travelers hit the road to visit family, explore domestic destinations, or venture abroad.

The Jungar Yellow River Grand Canyon Tourist Area in Jungar Banner, north China’s Inner Mongolia — known for its towering and precipitous cliffs — has become a major holiday hot spot.

Situated along the border between Inner Mongolia and north China’s Shanxi Province, the canyon owes its striking landscape to hundreds of millions of years of geological activity — as Earth’s crust continued to rise and riverbed incision by the Yellow River cut ever deeper, soft shale was washed away, leaving only the hardest rock behind.

Within the scenic area lies the Cuijiazhai, a village with over 170 years of history. Its houses are built entirely from local yellowish-brown flagstone. Traditional workshops, including oil presses and tofu mills, have been restored, allowing visitors to try their hand at time-honored crafts and experience farming culture along the Yellow River.

During the May Day holiday, the Yungang Grottoes scenic area in Shanxi’s Datong City also saw an influx of visitors. In response to the surge in travel, the site has adjusted its holiday schedule, closing at 19:00 each day — extending visiting hours by four and a half hours.

“I came to see the Yungang Grottoes during the holiday. I’m truly amazed by the wisdom of the ancients. Overall, it’s been a wonderful experience,” said a tourist surnamed Dai.

In Jingzhou, central China’s Hubei Province, flower-themed parades and performances featuring traditional Chinese elements have been rolled out one after another, adding a strong cultural flavor to the holiday break. As night falls, the city also offers a dazzling visual feast as technology and art unfold — a formation of 3,000 drones lights up the sky alongside a spectacular fireworks display.

“The drone-and-fireworks show tonight completely changed my expectations. Dragons soaring, phoenixes dancing, the Aoyu, (a Chinese mythology figure possesses the head of a dragon and the body of a fish) breaching the water, and the tree of life in bloom — images that once existed only in paintings or my imagination came to life in the night sky,” said Yu Jie, a visitor.

It is worth noting that in cities such as Jiayuguan and Dingxi in northwest China’s Gansu Province, spring break has been aligned with the May Day holiday, creating an eight- to ten-day vacation. The longer vacation has made more diverse activities possible, with local schools organizing outings and labor-themed events.

Driven by the spring break policy, hotels in Gansu’s popular tourist destinations have seen peak occupancy. Many have upgraded their services and facilities to better cater to the varied needs of families traveling with children.

In central China’s Hunan Province, many schools have also combined the spring break with the May Day holiday, giving primary and secondary school students in Changsha, Xiangtan, and other cities a seven-day break. As a result, visitor numbers at major scenic spots across Hunan have risen significantly.

It is estimated that the Yuelu Mountain scenic spot in Changsha will receive over 400,000 visitors during the holiday. The site has rolled out a range of tailored, visitor-friendly services designed to ensure that children not only have fun but also gain meaningful experiences and insights along the way.

France’s gross domestic product (GDP) stalled in the first quarter of 2026, recording zero growth from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

The stagnation came as final domestic demand excluding inventories remained sluggish. Household consumption edged down 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year, a reversal from the 0.4 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, gross fixed capital formation also fell back by 0.4 percent.

Foreign trade exerted a strong negative contribution to GDP growth in the first quarter, subtracting 0.7 percentage point after adding 0.6 point in the previous quarter. This downturn was driven by a sharp 3.8 percent drop in exports, while imports also continued to decline, falling 1.7 percent.

In contrast, changes in inventories provided a strong positive contribution of 0.8 percentage point, rebounding from a negative 0.7 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2025. The INSEE said the inventory build was driven mainly by aerospace products.

Total production of goods and services remained sluggish in the first quarter, rising by 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2025.