When COVID restrictions across the world ended, people took to tourism in a big way, creating the trend called ‘revenge tourism’ — taking a trip that wasn’t possible due to the pandemic. Since then, many travel trends have emerged including sleep tourism , dark tourism and so on. However, with tourism numbers rising across the world, leading to complaints of overtourism — think Japan’s Mount Fuji, or Venice in Italy — many people are now understanding the catastrophic effects that tourism can have on the environment and the climate.
Realising this, many in China are now opting for gruelling train or bus journeys rather than luxurious flights, earning them the title of ‘iron butt’ travellers. But what exactly is this and why are the Chinese opting for this way of travel? Take a look at travel trends online in China and one stands out the most — tieding in Mandarin Chinese, which has received 19.8 million clicks and counting with its #ironbutttravel hashtag.
Their motto, interestingly, is “Those with iron butts enjoy the world first.” However, what defines ‘iron butt’ travellers. They are those who opt for extreme forms of transportation for their vacations.
They choose to endure long journeys, travelling on uncomfortable seats on buses or trains that make flesh start to feel like metal. And who are ‘iron butt’ travellers? They are mostly recently graduated people, who have more free time than money. For instance, in September, a 25-year-old Douy.
