Forget leisurely strolls. A new trend is taking Chinese travel to new heights -- literally. Dubbed "Cityfly," it sees thrill-seekers trading city sidewalks for skylines and horizontal exploration for vertical vistas.

Following in the footsteps of "Citywalk," "Cityfly" -- which ranges from paragliding and skydiving to scenic helicopter rides -- is fast becoming a buzzword among young Chinese travelers, reflecting a consumer shift driven by China's burgeoning low-altitude economy.

On an autumn morning, Li Duo, a woman in her early 20s from Shanghai, tried paragliding for the first time, taking off under the guidance of an instructor from a paragliding base on Mogan Mountain in Deqing County, in east China's Zhejiang Province.

"It's simply breathtaking to glide over the rolling bamboo forests and tea gardens while the wind roars in my ears," Li said with excitement after landing. "It unlocked a new perspective for me and gave me some incredible photos."

Yang Aiping, manager of the paragliding base, noted that annual visitor numbers have skyrocketed from fewer than 10,000 in 2019 -- when the base first opened -- to over 100,000 today.

In Zhejiang Province, low-altitude tourism is transitioning from a niche adventure to a mainstream pursuit. During the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday earlier this month, Huzhou City -- which administers Deqing -- launched 16 low-altitude flight routes connecting seven sites, attracting a growing number of tourists.

Deqing and Anji, another county under Huzhou's administration, have been designated as the provincial-level pilot zones for the low-altitude economy, reflecting strong policy backing for the sector's rapid development in Zhejiang.

Editor Ⅰ: Zhang Wenwen

Editor Ⅱ: Wu Dan

Editor Ⅲ: Liu Guosong