China's National Day Holiday Boosts New Consumption Trends

According to a report released by China Internet Data, China saw new trends during National Day Holiday, which fosters the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and unveils new business opportunities for product/service providers.

# Trending 1: New tourist packages spur new consumption

According to a report released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China saw a significant increase in domestic tourist trips during the national holiday, after the tourism hardship during the summer. The opening of Universal Beijing Resort effectively arouses people's passions and stimulates tourist visits to theme parks of the whole country. "Theme park" also became the hottest keyword on the social platform.

For nature tourism, the Great Northwest Area, including cities like Urumqi, Lhasa, Xining, Yinchuan, Lanzhou, became the most popular tourist destination with an increase of 80% in sales of flight tickets, compared to the previous months.

Self-driving & RV trips are springing up especially in 2021, with Guangzhou and Dongguan topping the list for both self-driving destinations.

Niche immersive gameplay also has more participants compared to previous years. The reservations for surfing and diving increased by more than 200%, tenting and camping increased by more than 14 times, while hiking and rock climbing increased by more than 13 times.

# Trending 2: The upgrade of consumption made in rural areas accelerated

Under the national strategic policy of "rejuvenating countryside's economy", logistics infrastructure is fortified in rural areas. Local villagers' online shopping demands are rapidly soaring. The figure is 180% of the sales orders made in the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, according to the data from Alibaba backstage, import consumption growth in the fourth and fifth-tier cities and rural areas was even higher than that in the first and second-tier cities. The sixth-tier cities, towns, and rural areas grew by 55% year on year. The red wine is the rage product consumed by inhabitants living in rural areas and small cities, which increased 5500% compared to last year. Coffee and coffee machines are second to it in numbers of order. The numbers of coffee product buyer in six-tier market grew more than 300% in September compared to last year, which is a surprise as most Chinese people don't have a habit or tradition for coffee drinking.

Besides, the attendance rate of rural B&B is higher than hotels. The rural B&B order initiated by the millennial generation increased by 400%. Homestay in Dali, Zhoushan, Lijiang, Huangshan, Guilin, Qiandongnan, Beihai, Huzhou, and Zhangjiajie are fully booked.

# Trending 3: "Red" consumption & tourism hit

"Red Spirit" colored the whole national holiday. As of Oct 4, 2021, the National Day box office accumulated 2.572 billion yuan, higher than the same period last year. The two significant blockbusters, Changjin Lake and My Parents, received rave reviews and scored 9.5 points on Taobao. Among them, "Changjin Lake," an epic film that depicts the Changjin Lake battle to resist American aggression and aid Korea, has earned more than 2.2 billion yuan as of Friday, breaking 13 records in Chinese film history. The single-day box office hit 438 million yuan on Oct 2, breaking the single-day box office record held by Wolf Warrior 2 and breaking its record on Oct 3 and Oct 4.

Besides the film industry, Red tourism has become a new bright spot in this year's National Day tourism market. Visiting revolutionary sites and learning red history, red tourism is attracting more and more young people. According to Feizhu platform, orders for red tourism rose by more than 80% year on year. Changsha, Xiangtan, Nanchang, Zunyi, Yan 'an, Jiaxing and Jinggangshan are popular destinations for red tourism.

# Trending 4: The wind of China-Chic blew

According to data from Intime Department Store, "ancient gold" jewelry designed with Chinese elements, such as lotus and phoenix, has quietly occupied the dominant position in the gold market. Gold jewelry is no longer exclusive to the elders, more and more consumers who buy gold jewelry were born in the 1980s and 1990s. It becomes a national tide to mix and match watches and bracelets with gold jewelry.

Young people's love for the "China-Chic" style also extended to sports brands, On the first day of the holiday, Hongxing Erke reached 85% year-on-year growth while China Li Ning reached 50% year-on-year growth. Especially, Li Ning adopted manual cross needles, woven tassels, plant dyeing, and other ethnic processes in their new product, which was highly recognized by young generation and consumers.

# Why does vibrant holiday consumption matter?

In China, holiday consumption is a significant indicator as well as an important perspective to observe the vitality and resilience of China's economy.

China carries out a series of strict and scientific rules and policies to contain the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, which are conducive to maintain a favorable environment for economic recovery and development.

With the institutional strengths, normal order is effectively restored to society in a short time. Even some indigenous small-scale transmission cases were taking place intermittently in the past few months, but major economic activities are assured. That's why Chinese people still retain strong consumption ability during the National Day Golden Week.

The restriction of international travel and the support policy for technological innovation also spur the domestic demands for new products and services in a way.

Meanwhile, the explosive rise of tourism, online and offline consumption, and duty-free shopping is sending a strong signal to overseas investors and injecting confidence into the world economy.