May Day is play day

The island country of Maldives is among hot destinations.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Islands such as the Maldives and Thailand's Phuket are expected to see floods of Chinese visitors in May.

Turkey is also poised to experience an inflow of Chinese tourists because it recently streamlined visa applications, Ctrip reports.

The country's embassy in China announced on March 5 that Chinese holding ordinary passports can apply for electronic visas. The procedure can be done from home in just a few minutes.

Ctrip's individual four-day trips to South Korea from Beijing are priced at around 2,000 yuan during the holiday. Six-day group trips to Bangkok and Pattaya cost around 3,000 yuan.

Agencies are also launching packages for domestic sites.

Fujian province's Xiamen, Hainan province's Sanya, Yunnan province and Shaanxi province's Xi'an are leading destinations at home.

Warm seashores and clean air consistently draw visitors to Xiamen and Sanya.

Xi'an's tourism has accelerated this year, as the country is promoting Silk Road travels, Dai says. The city is considered the ancient route's starting point.

"Trips to enjoy blossoms remain popular in eastern China," she says.

The ongoing flower shows in the Xixi national wetland park in Zhejiang province's capital, Hangzhou, will last until May 10. Tourists can enjoy more than 600 blooming species.

Yunnan's azaleas and euphorbias bloom in May.

Growing in relative popularity are Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou (Jiuzhai Valley), and neighboring Chongqing municipality's Wulong county.

Ctrip's domestic-destination packages currently cost about 1,000-5,000 yuan, depending on the departure point. The company claims prices are about the same as in non-holiday periods.

May Day tours are generally 20 percent cheaper than summer trips, Dai says.