China saw a travel and consumption frenzy during the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, which concluded on Friday, according to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The ministry released a report on Friday evening, revealing that approximately 826 million domestic trips were taken over the eight-day holiday, marking a remarkable year-on-year growth of 71.3 percent. This showed a 4.1 percent increase from 2019—the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
During the travel rush from September 27 to October 6, over 160 million passenger trips were made via the country's railway network, as reported by the Chinese Ministry of Transport. A record-breaking figure of 20.09 million railway daily passenger trips was observed on September 29.
Self-driving tours saw significant growth, with car rental orders rising over 4.6 times from 2019.
Tourism-related revenue saw a remarkable surge, totaling around 753.4 billion yuan (about $103.2 billion) over the eight days. This represented a substantial year-on-year growth of 129.5 percent and a 1.5 percent increase from the 2019 level.
Across China, the average daily spending for services and retail saw an impressive jump of 153 percent, while consumption in dine-in services surged by 254 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
As of Friday noon, China's box office during the eight-day holiday exceeded 2.7 billion yuan, compared to 1.5 billion yuan in 2022. Domestic films dominated the holiday revenue chart.
The most popular destinations for long-haul trips in China included Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, which ranked as the top five in terms of total consumption.
Some spots, such as Nyingchi in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region and Shanwei in south China's Guangdong Province, witnessed the highest growth in hotel bookings.
In major shopping streets across China, the flow of consumers increased by 94.7 percent, while sales revenue of major retail and catering firms rose by 9 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
On Wednesday, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan raised their forecasts for China's GDP growth in 2023 to 5 percent, aligning with the growth target of the world's second-largest economy.
