Chinese Uber users travel to 319 cities worldwide during new year holiday

CHENGDU - Chinese Uber users traveled to 319 cities around the globe during the Spring Festival holiday, more than twice that of 2015, according to the "2016 Chinese New Year Cross-border Travel Report" released by Uber China on Monday.

Data from the US ride-hailing service company showed that Chinese users had used the app as far north as Helsinki, Finland, and as south as Perth, Australia, from Feb 5 to Feb 19, 2016.

The United States was the most popular destination among 65 countries and regions, with Los Angeles the city of choice. Nature lovers also enjoyed rides on the Hawaiian island of Maui and east Africa's Kenya during the peak tourist season.

China's financial hub Shanghai reported the most Uber users choosing to travel overseas, followed by Beijing, the southern metropolises of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and then East China's Hangzhou and Southwest China's Chengdu.

"Chengdu replaced New York to become Uber's most successful city globally in terms of daily rides last October," said Fang Yin, general manager of Uber Chengdu. "Uber users here made 44,522 km worth of rides during the holiday, further than the distance around the earth's equator."

One Chengdu user had traveled 360 km in one trip while in Miami, the longest of all Chinese Uber users.

Uber released its first Chinese New Year cross-border travel report in 2015, and the company has reported a 1,000 percent increase in overseas trips during the holiday period this year, with a 973 percent increase in overseas trips.

Six million Chinese travelled overseas during the Spring Festival holiday, an increase of 30 percent year on year, according to the China Tourism Academy.

It is estimated that Chinese tourists spent 90 billion yuan ($13.8 billion) while overseas this year, according to the academy.