Mystery Box Trips: To Parts Unknown

“盲盒”式旅行：去未知的地方

In recent years， mystery box travel purchases surged and became trendy among China’s young people. In normal trips， people often plan their vacations well in advance. After buying a mystery box at a low price—usually from 100 to 200 yuan—however， the travelers using this method will select their departure city and receive several destination options to choose from. After the destination is decided， their trip begins.

“Going out alone usually costs too much and that too many people don’t know where to go. However， the mystery box directly assigns me a few destinations， which feels wonderful， and it’s cheap，” a citizen surnamed Cheng told Haibao News， a media outlet based in Shandong Province.

Liao Liangyu， 16， has turned his eagerness to go on a mystery box trip into reality. He took a mystery box trip with a couple of friends months ago. It started when one of them got a mystery box ticket to Changsha， the capital city of Hunan Province. Surprisingly， Liao followed suit and got Changsha too.

近年来，“旅行盲盒”消费激增，并且很受中国年轻人的欢迎。在常规旅行中，人们常常会提前做好假期规划。选择“旅行盲盒”的旅行者们通常以低价（100—200元）购入盲盒，在选定出发城市后，从飞往几个目的地的机票中随机抽取一张。当旅行者决定好去往抽中的目的地时，他们的旅程就开始了。

“通常来说，独自旅行的费用很高，而且很多人不知道去哪里旅行。然而，盲盒直接为我指定几个目的地，这感觉很棒，费用也低。”程姓市民在接受《海报新闻》（一家山东媒体）采访时说。

16岁的廖梁语（音译）把他对“旅行盲盒”的兴趣付诸实践。几个月前，他和几个朋友进行了一趟“盲盒”式旅行。之所以有这趟旅程，是因为他们中的一个人买到前往湖南省省会长沙的盲盒。出人意料的是，廖梁语买到的盲盒也是前往长沙的。

Right before their departure， a friend told Liao that Changsha was an Internet sensation. But he still decided to go and see it for himself.

“My biggest discovery is that Changsha is a city full of contrasts，” Liao explained to China Daily. “You can see skyscrapers and old houses in alleys in the same view.”

Since the destination options include many less popular cities， travel mystery boxes also bring vigor and economic benefits to these destinations. For example， Dehong is a beautiful city in Yunnan Province yet had few visitors due to a lack of promotion. Following its inclusion as a mystery box travel destination， however， it has gained a lot of attention

and is now thought of as a solid location for tourism.

But even so， a large number of people feel disappointed with travel mystery boxes because they can encounter many problems after purchasing one， such as inappropriate travel times， sudden flight cancellations， or even challenges with refunds. Sun Weili from a travel website suggested in an interview that visitors buying mystery boxes should choose reliable platforms and sign contracts to guarantee their interests.

启程之前，廖梁语的一个朋友告诉他，长沙是一座网红城市。但是，廖梁语还是决定要亲身前往去看一看。

“我最大的发现就是，长沙是一个充满反差感的城市。”廖梁语向《中国日报》记者谈道，“你可以同时看到摩天大楼和小巷中的老房子。”

因为可选的目的地包括很多冷门城市，所以“旅行盲盒”也为这些地方带来了活力和经济效益。比如，位于云南省的德宏是一座迷人的城市，此前因为缺乏宣传而少有游客到来。但自从这里被纳入“旅行盲盒”可选目的地后，便获得了大量的关注，现在客流量也很稳定。

但是，也有很多人对“旅行盲盒”感到失望，因为他们在购买盲盒后碰到一些问题，比如旅行时间不合适，航班临时取消，甚至是退款难。在旅游网站工作的孙为立在接受采访时建议，消费者在购买“旅行盲盒”时，要选择正规的平台，并且一定要签订合同来保障自身权益。

Word Bank

surge /sɜːdʒ/ v. 飞涨；激增

follow suit 跟着做

Efforts to persuade the remainder to follow suit

have continued.

sensation /sen'seɪʃn/ n. 引起轰动的人（或事物）

The band became a sensation overnight.

vigor /'vɪɡə（r）/ n. 活力