During the National Day holiday in 2026, some netizens shared the special soldier style journey of "climbing five mountains in five days": climb the famous mountain in the daytime, take a sleeper to cross the city at night, and complete all the clocking in of the East Mountain Mount Taishan, the West Mountain Hua, the South Mountain Heng, the North Mountain Heng, and the Central Mountain Song in just 120 hours. Relevant topics quickly went to social networking platforms for hot search ^ [1] [2] ^. Many netizens praised the participants' physical fitness and execution ability, believing that this is a manifestation of the young group's courage to think and do; However, a large number of netizens have pointed out that the itinerary spans multiple provinces, with continuous high-intensity mountain climbing and a lack of rest during nighttime travel, posing extremely high risks for ordinary people and lacking replicability.

After the incident escalated, orthopedic and sports medicine doctors publicly reminded that mountaineering imposes a heavy load on the knee and ankle joints. Continuous high-intensity mountaineering in a short period of time can easily cause muscle strains, joint wear, and even sports injuries. Outdoor sports should be done gradually and within one's means, and it is not recommended for ordinary tourists to blindly follow the trend and imitate such extreme journeys. At present, the topic is still spreading on social media platforms, and many netizens have begun to compare the feasibility of different routes. Some tourists have also expressed that they will not try such high-intensity arrangements.

"Climbing the Five Mountains in Five Days" is essentially an upgraded version of special forces tourism. Similar extreme clocking events have occurred many times in China before. Previously, netizens shared trips such as "climbing Mount Huangshan, Mount Jiuhua, and Mount Tianzhu in three days", "clocking in three 5A scenic spots across three provinces in two days at weekends", and "visiting Beijing's core scenic spots in 24 hours", which have triggered discussions about the significance of tourism and security risks. Compared to previous city check ins, the intensity of the Five Sacred Mountains consecutive climb this time is higher, and the risks of mountain sports are much higher than those of ordinary city sightseeing. The requirements for participants' physical fitness, route planning ability, and emergency response ability are more stringent.

Looking back at the development path of similar events in the past, most extreme check-in itineraries will go through the process of "netizens discussing - experts warning of risks - scenic spots issuing safety reminders - following the trend and imitating to reduce" after becoming popular. In previous incidents of illegal mountain crossing and blind check-in on popular routes, tourists were trapped and required public rescue forces to intervene, which forced scenic spots and regulatory departments to strengthen control over unopened areas and regulate illegal exploration behavior. Unlike previous incidents of violating regulations by crossing undeveloped areas, this "five-day climbing of the Five Sacred Mountains" trip is within the scope of mature scenic spots, with stronger compliance. However, the health risks brought by continuous high-intensity exercise cannot be ignored.

From the current spread situation, it is highly unlikely that this event will evolve into a large-scale trend. On the one hand, since 2026, there has been a clear shift in consumption in the tourism market, with more and more young tourists inclined towards relaxing and immersive vacations. The popularity of special forces style tourism, which simply pursues the number of check ins, has declined compared to the previous two years. Data shows that more than 60% of respondents aged 25-35 believe that relaxing during holidays is more important than checking ins. On the other hand, risk warnings from medical professionals have been widely disseminated, and most ordinary tourists will rationally evaluate their physical abilities and will not rashly attempt trips far beyond their own capacity.

It is not ruled out that future scenic spots related to the Five Sacred Mountains will issue targeted safety tips to remind tourists to plan their hiking trips reasonably and avoid continuous high-intensity exercise; Some tourism platforms may also label the risks of related extreme strategies to guide tourists to travel safely. If there are subsequent cases of imitators being injured or trapped, it cannot be ruled out that regulatory authorities and scenic spots will further strengthen guidance on extreme check-in behavior, while improving medical security and emergency rescue facilities in mountainous scenic spots. Overall, this event will eventually return to the consensus level of "rational outdoor, safety first" and will not form a long-term extreme tourism trend.

The first to be affected is the mountain outdoor and tourism industry. This incident has once again drawn public attention to the safety issues of mountain sports, which is expected to promote the further improvement of rest and medical facilities on hiking trails in scenic areas. It will also increase the attention to outdoor protection and sports rehabilitation related products. At the same time, unlike traditional group tour products that offer low-priced multi attraction check-in, customized and slow paced mountain leisure and deep cultural tour products may gain more favor from tourists. The demand for scenic area surrounding tour routes that focus on "easy mountain climbing" and "cultural experience" is expected to increase ^ [3] [4] ^.

The transportation sector will also be indirectly driven. This type of extreme travel that crosses multiple provinces highly relies on transportation connections such as night sleeper trains and short distance high-speed trains, which may attract more tourists to pay attention to sleeper train products that depart overnight and arrive in the morning. Railway departments and online tourism platforms may launch targeted combination products such as "Famous Mountain Tourism Special Trains" and "Cross city Mountaineering Joint Tickets". In addition, the sports and health industry will also have exposure opportunities, and the search volume for joint protection equipment, sports protective gear, muscle relaxation products, and outdoor climbing equipment may increase in the short term with the popularity of the event.

In terms of online travel platforms, platforms such as Ctrip, Meituan, and Tongcheng may optimize their product supply for famous mountain tourism. On the one hand, they will launch safety tips to guide tourists to plan their itinerary reasonably. On the other hand, they will also launch more segmented mountain themed tours and leisure vacation products to meet the needs of different tourists. Previous data shows that since 2026, the booking growth rate of high-end customized and deep experience tours has been much higher than that of low-priced check-in groups, and platforms will also adjust their product structure in response to consumer trends.

At the level of the scenic spot operator, the five mountain scenic spots such as Mount Taishan, Mount Hua, Mount Heng, Mount Heng and Mount Song are expected to receive a wave of attention increase driven by the event, but the scenic spot also needs to balance flow and safety, and increase investment in mountain climbing route guidance, emergency rescue and medical security. Outdoor product companies such as Pathfinder and Camel may use this opportunity to promote professional outdoor equipment such as hiking shoes, knee pads, and hiking poles, conveying the concept of safe outdoor activities; Sports rehabilitation and health protection related enterprises can also gain more consumer attention by popularizing knowledge of sports injury protection. Overall, the traffic generated by the event will ultimately tilt towards market entities that prioritize compliance, security, and user experience.