特种兵旅游tè zhǒng bīng lǚ yóu

Special-forces travel

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特种兵旅游, “special-forces travel”, is a trip run like a military mission: as many sights as possible, in as little time and for as little money as possible, often in one weekend.

Took off: 2023
Started in: Xiaohongshu
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

A typical plan: leave on Friday night by train, see six places in a day and a half, sleep on the train back and walk into class on Monday morning. It is tiring on purpose, and people post the schedule to show off.

The longer form is 特种兵式旅游, “special-forces-style travel”.

How people use it

It is now an ordinary travel word. The opposite is the slow trip, or the citywalk: an unhurried walk around one neighborhood.

琦琦

五一你去哪里玩？
wǔ yī nǐ qù nǎ lǐ wán?
Where are you going for the May Day holiday?
两天去三个城市，晚上坐火车
liǎng tiān qù sān gè chéng shì, wǎn shang zuò huǒ chē
Three cities in two days, night trains in between.
又是特种兵旅游？你不累吗？
yòu shì tè zhǒng bīng lǚ yóu? nǐ bú lèi ma?
Special-forces travel again? Don’t you get tired?
累，但是便宜啊
lèi, dàn shì pián yi a
Sure, but it’s cheap!

More examples

周末我去了三个城市，完全是特种兵旅游。
zhōu mò wǒ qù le sān gè chéng shì, wán quán shì tè zhǒng bīng lǚ yóu.
I went to three cities this weekend. Pure special-forces travel.
我不想特种兵旅游了，这次想慢慢玩。
wǒ bù xiǎng tè zhǒng bīng lǚ yóu le, zhè cì xiǎng màn màn wán.
I’m done with special-forces trips. This time I want to take it slow.

Where it came from

The trend took off among Chinese university students in April 2023. The Paper reported that Xiaohongshu posts on the topic grew more than twentyfold in the three weeks to 16 April, and that more than 60 percent of the posters were 19 to 25 years old.

咬文嚼字 put 特种兵式旅游 on its list of the ten most popular phrases of 2023, and the national language monitoring center listed it too.

IC实验室, 2023. Watch on YouTube

The original. There is no single image. Posts show a packed timetable or a collage of a dozen sights in one day. The Paper reported on the trend in April 2023. The Paper (in Chinese)