Ancient allure seen through a screen

"It's rare for such an already-popular destination like Xi'an to suddenly experience a surge of visitors," says Feng Rao, head of Mafengwo's travel research center.

"It's because the online series has gone viral. More tourists will travel to the city during the summer vacation."

Shao Jihong, a senior director in charge of Ctrip's air-ticket business, agrees.

"The beautiful scenery in films and television, and the celebrity effect are the major drivers behind the trend of traveling to filming locations. Ctrip's data shows that those who were born in the 1980s and 1990s are the main demographic of such travelers this summer."

Chinese travelers are also interested in the locations used in their favorite foreign movies and television shows, she says. The most popular ones this summer are Thailand, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and Iceland.

She takes HBO's hit TV series Game of Thrones as an example. When it released its finale in May, Chinese travelers paid great attention to its filming locations, including Northern Ireland, Spain and Croatia.