Workers suffering from "post - holiday poverty" have fallen in love with the 48 - hour "extreme overseas trips" on weekends.
Is Traveling Abroad on Weekends a Disguised Way to Save Money?
For Brian, a post - 95s office worker, traveling abroad at least once every weekend is indispensable.
After 6 p.m. on Friday and before 12 p.m. on Saturday, he will take any flight to a new foreign city. He plans a two - day free trip there and then takes the flight back to Shanghai for work on Monday morning. No annual leave is needed.
For example, in early March, Shanghai is not suitable for a city walk. It's rainy and a bit cold. That weekend, Brian planned a "theme tour to unlock one of Japan's three major hot springs". He took a Spring Airlines flight at 11 a.m. on Saturday from Pudong Airport and arrived in Nagoya at 2 p.m. Then he took the train and arrived at the Gero Hot Spring Hotel just as night fell at 5 p.m. to check in. After the buffet dinner, he still had time to enjoy the local fireworks show. On Sunday morning, he leisurely strolled around the Gassho - style village near Gero Town. In the afternoon, he took a bus to Osaka for shopping and then went to the airport to wait for the Monday morning flight.
Source: Provided by Brian
Brian works as a product manager in an Internet company in Shanghai. His work is not easy, but it doesn't affect his enthusiasm for extreme weekend travel at all. Moreover, such a short weekend overseas GAP doesn't cost as much as people think.
Brian calculated that the total cost is no more than 3,000 yuan: a single - person ticket for the hot spring hotel's "one - night stay and two meals" (one - night accommodation + breakfast and dinner buffet) costs 1,200 yuan, and the train ticket is about 600 yuan. The most cost - effective part is the special - offer round - trip air ticket he grabbed, which only cost 700 yuan in total. To be honest, it costs as much to go skiing in Chongli.
Young people have realized that compared with the crowdedness during long holidays, a 48 - hour weekend trip abroad may bring a higher - quality and more cost - effective travel experience.
The most popular overseas destinations are Japan, which has long become a backyard for office workers in Beijing and Shanghai. South Korea, Southeast Asia, and even Russia, which are relatively close, are also included in the "suburban" options for a two - day - one - night trip. There are also many niche destinations that sound unique and are becoming more and more popular.
For example, Vladivostok, known as the end of the Far East and with a cold - like charm. Since it only takes a two - hour flight from Beijing, it has immediately become a holy land for Beijing office workers' weekend trips abroad. In terms of the itinerary, one day is for visiting cultural landscapes in the city center, such as the Victory Square, the Orthodox Church, and the Far East Museum. The other day is spent by the seaside in the suburbs. You can arrive at the Tokarevsky Lighthouse in advance to enjoy the beautiful sunrise show of nature and take photos at Cape Tobizinna.
Source from Xiaohongshu @XZ
Another example is Kota Kinabalu, the newly - popular tourist city. This unknown island in Malaysia is almost becoming an overseas hometown for Chinese people. Some bloggers on social media have shared their solo trips to Kota Kinabalu, where they can communicate in Chinese without any obstacles, and the streets are filled with familiar hometown dialects. Not to mention that it's a short flight from Guangzhou and Shenzhen. There is also a new 5 - hour direct flight from Beijing to Kota Kinabalu. The flight departs at 0:00 on Saturday and arrives at 5:30 a.m., which is simply a "special line for office workers".
The sunset in Kota Kinabalu, Source from Xiaohongshu @Junior Snake
Xu Yang, a post - 90s office worker in Beijing, remembers that when he went to Kota Kinabalu in 2017, he had to transfer in Kuala Lumpur and took two more days of annual leave. Now he doesn't have this concern anymore. In Kota Kinabalu, he can experience the pure tropical island scenery, watch the fiery clouds in the sky, look for wild proboscis monkeys in the mangroves, and see the romantic fireflies at night... After the highly - stressful work, teleporting to the other side of the sea on weekends is like having a short but extremely fulfilling dream.
By the way, the special price for this dream - like trip is only 1,500 yuan for a round - trip ticket. Even more exaggerated, if you're lucky enough to grab a special - offer ticket, some people can even get it for 500 yuan.
Office workers always come up with more ways to save money on weekend trips abroad. Marshmallow, based in Beijing, is a weekend travel enthusiast. She travels to more than a dozen countries every year and has developed into a "travel deal - hunting" blogger. She often shares money - saving strategies for weekend trips on social media, teaching people how to stock up on flight pass cards and hotel packages during major promotion festivals like Double 11 and 618. As long as you follow enough "deal information" and are quick - handed, you can always buy round - trip tickets for less than a thousand yuan.
Source from Xiaohongshu @Marshmallow (Weekend Travel Edition), Spending a weekend in Jeju Island
Looking at the world map, most countries that become popular weekend destinations have three characteristics: the commute time is within six hours, the urban transportation is well - developed, and the scenic spots are concentrated. Traveling abroad, transportation is always the most time - consuming and labor - intensive part. But if you choose a city with concentrated tourist resources, you can reduce the time spent on transportation.
In Brian's words, "These countries don't need to be visited for a long time. A weekend is completely enough." Such short - haul countries are only suitable for weekends. Two days of sightseeing is completely sufficient. He saves his annual leave for long holidays like May Day and National Day so that he can have more free time to go to more remote places like Northern Europe and the United States.
Tired of the crowdedness during long holidays in China, "few people" is the best compliment for a tourist attraction. Traveling on weekends, you'll have a smooth journey. Thinking about it this way, the seemingly impulsive 48 - hour trip abroad is actually a quite economical and rational form of entertainment.
"Is it necessary to exhaust yourself like this?"
Of course, the premise is that your physical condition can withstand a high - intensity two - day - one - night itinerary.
There are still many skeptical voices on the Internet about this "extreme travel". "I don't understand the weekend special forces travelers. Do they really have no leave?" "What's the difference between this kind of rush and a work - like trip?"
Brian has heard both admiration and incomprehension. He found that people's attitudes towards special - forces travel have obvious regional characteristics.
In March this year, he posted an article titled "A Guide to Traveling Abroad on Weekends in Shanghai without Taking Leave", summarizing 34 optional countries for travel that meet the criteria of "within a 6,000 - kilometer flight radius, flights departing after 6 p.m. on Friday and returning before 9 a.m. on Monday".
Source from Xiaohongshu @No Work Today
After the post was published, he was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of netizens in Shanghai. Some people offered supplementary suggestions, "If you're not restricted to round - trips from the same city, there are more combinations available." They also showed their flight records from Shanghai Pudong to Osaka Kobe Airport and then back from Osaka Kansai Airport.
There were even more amazing ones. Someone directly showed the record of a weekend round - trip to Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. It seems that the actual sightseeing time in Paris was about one and a half days. Returning to Shanghai at noon on Sunday, they could even catch the 7 a.m. landing on Monday and go to work during the morning rush hour.
Source from the comment section of Xiaohongshu @No Work Today
Some people under that post also asked for a guide for Beijing. In the following days, Brian compiled a special guide for Beijing special - forces travelers. There are relatively fewer flight options from Beijing, and he could only list 21 destinations. The atmosphere in the comment section was completely different. Most Beijing office workers expressed their incomprehension: "Why not take annual leave? Is it necessary to exhaust yourself like this?" Or they would seemingly support it and then add, "Although it's not very feasible, it's still nice to just look at the travel plan."
He was a bit speechless and "never wants to make travel guides for Beijing office workers again."
Indeed, most of the special - forces travelers contacted by the "Post - Wave Research Institute" are concentrated in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions. Only one person, Xu Yang, based in Beijing, was contacted. He works as a teacher in a middle school. Although he has sufficient winter and summer vacations, he often chooses weekend trips because he thinks it's cost - effective.
Moreover, some specific scenery can only be seen during specific time windows. For example, the maple - leaf season in Kyoto only occurs once from late November to early December. Even though Xu Yang has been to Japan several times, he is willing to go there again just for the maple leaves.
Moreover, for a teacher who often has to be on duty for evening self - study until after 9 p.m. on weekdays, Xu Yang really needs to change the environment on weekends to relieve stress. He can't wait until the winter and summer vacations. He must have a short escape during work intervals to achieve the stress - relieving effect, so that he has something to look forward to in the next week of work.
Xu Yang, who just wants to change his mood on weekends, has a very laid - back itinerary. His travel principle is never to over - exhaust his body just to meet some "itinerary - punching KPIs". In short, it's all about strolling and eating, going wherever his feet take him. When he went to Kyoto, he spent four or five hours visiting several temples, admiring the maple leaves all over the mountains, and then took a leisurely break in a coffee shop at the foot of the mountain. The day just passed by like that.
Maple leaves in Kyoto taken by Xu Yang, provided by the interviewee
Another group of weekend travel - abroad enthusiasts is completely different from Xu Yang. They bring the same rigorous and serious attitude they have towards work to their travels. They are like a tightly - wound spring and can't stop. They always maintain a highly - tense special - forces travel plan.
Ye Tian, a technical employee based in Shanghai, is an ultimate J - type person. In his seventh year of work, he has gradually learned to relieve stress during his busy work. Even though he usually works until 10 p.m., he leaves work at 6 p.m. sharp on Friday to catch the flight. He often sets off with just a hiking backpack and a camera (he is also a photography enthusiast).
He described one of his travel itineraries: waking up at 4 a.m. to go and shoot the sunrise, and shooting the galaxy until 2 a.m. the next day. "I have a bit of an obsession with making the most of every moment," Ye Tian said.
Because he pursues travel efficiency, he mostly likes to be a solo backpacker. Several times when his girlfriend traveled with him on weekends, she couldn't stand the tight schedule and woke up after 10 a.m. He would arrange his own itinerary from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., go out for a trip, and then pick up his girlfriend and continue the journey together.
White egrets in Tokyo taken by Ye Tian. One of his hobbies is bird - watching
This is not the limit of special - forces travelers.
Ye Tian and Brian have both