Southwest China's Yunnan Province recorded more than 400,000 cross-border passenger trips during the five-day May Day holiday from May 1 to 5, as tourism demand along the province's borders surged, local border authorities said.

According to the Yunnan Border Inspection General Station, the province handled 403,300 cross-border passenger trips during the holiday, up 16.86 percent year on year.

The Hekou border gate on the China-Vietnam border saw an early peak on April 30, with the arrival of 267 inbound tour groups totaling 4,484 people.

"This is our graduation trip. We really love Chinese culture and food," said Phuong Linh, a Vietnamese traveler.

As cross-border tourism continues to develop, Vietnamese visitors are increasingly moving beyond day trips to border towns and venturing further into inland China. Meanwhile, travelers from Laos and Thailand prefer to enter through gates such as Mohan port to visit Xishuangbanna 

Dai Autonomous Prefecture, a popular tourist destination in southern Yunnan.

During the five-day holiday, Xishuangbanna recorded an average of 14,000 cross-border passengers per day, with significant growth in both routine border crossings and tourism travels.

"We have set up visa-free counters, multilingual service windows and temporary entry permit zones to support the high-quality development of cross-border travel and trade," said Wang Long, an officer at the Xishuangbanna Border Inspection Station.