A new trend is driving Southeast Asian tourists to China’s Chongqing city — viral social media clips of monorails running through a residential building, buildings perched atop hilly terrain, and a pedestrian bridge on the 13th floor.
Flight bookings from Southeast Asia to Chongqing increased more than sixfold during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, which fell on May 31 this year, compared with the previous year, Chinese online travel platform Fliggy told CNBC.
“In 2025 alone, we’ve captured a nearly 12-fold surge in demand for Chongqing, compared to demand for other cities,” said Sarah Wan, Klook’s general manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in an email. Demand doubled for other popular cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and tripled for Chengdu, she added.
Chongqing has captured online attention for its duality — it’s home to natural attractions such as the Three Gorges and the Dazu Rock Carvings, and futuristic architecture that inspired its nickname, “cyberpunk city.”
That’s partly because young adults are turning to social media for recommendations when planning their holidays, with 79% of millennial and Gen Z travelers doing so, according to Klook Travel Pulse research published in February.
