The 2026 Year of the Horse Spring Festival holiday has concluded, with a series of authoritative data points painting a vibrant picture of robust holiday consumption. These figures offer a direct glimpse into the festive atmosphere and provide a clear reading of the powerful momentum within China's consumer market, underscoring the solid foundation of an economy that is stable, improving, and full of potential.
Data on population movement serves as the most direct indicator of the festive period's vitality, highlighting the dynamism of a "nation on the move." During the holiday, total cross-regional passenger trips exceeded 2.8 billion, averaging 311 million per day. This represents an 8.2% year-on-year increase and sets a new historical record. From long journeys home for family reunions to spontaneous travel热潮, this massive movement of people not only carries deep traditional sentiments but also stimulates the "micro-circulation" of the consumer market. Concurrently, the scale of national tourism saw a daily average increase of 3.5% compared to the 2025 holiday period. The interweaving of homecomings and vacations, blending family ties with scenic exploration, brought substantial customer flow to various sectors including catering, accommodation, transportation, and scenic spots. This served as the fundamental driver boosting the Spring Festival consumer market, filling the nation with energy and liveliness.
Data on physical consumption firmly underpins the festive atmosphere, confirming the sustained recovery of the domestic consumer market. According to Ministry of Commerce statistics, the average daily sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 5.7% compared to the 2025 holiday, with the growth rate accelerating by 1.6 percentage points. The concentrated release of traditional demand—for Lunar New Year shopping, reunion dinners, and gift-giving for family visits—resulted in crowded supermarkets, fully booked restaurants, and a continuous stream of online orders. Behind these numbers lies the steady improvement in public purchasing power, the continuous strengthening of consumer confidence, and powerful evidence of the stability of China's core consumption base. The steady growth in retail and dining not only warmed countless households during the holiday but also laid a solid foundation for a stable economic start to the year.
Data on cultural and tourism experiences highlights new trends in consumption upgrading, showcasing new bright spots in the synergistic development of culture and the economy. This Spring Festival saw sustained popularity in experiential and cultural consumption. In the first eight days of the holiday, urban parks across the country hosted nearly 15,000 special events like cultural creative markets and intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, receiving over 270 million visitors and generating nearly 7 billion yuan in consumption. Traditional villages deepened the integration of culture and tourism by holding over ten thousand activities, attracting more than 73 million visitors. Science and technology museums nationwide welcomed over 3.5 million visitors, establishing tech experiences as a new tradition. The total box office for the Spring Festival film season reached 5.752 billion yuan, pushing the annual box office past 8.3 billion yuan and topping the global single-market chart. From visiting parks and appreciating intangible cultural heritage to exploring rural areas, experiencing technology, and watching movies, cultural and tourism consumption is evolving beyond simple sightseeing towards a deeper integration of culture, leisure, technology, and experience, leading to continuous optimization of the consumption structure and the emergence of new消费热点.
Data on inbound tourism demonstrates the international appeal of the Chinese market, writing a new chapter in open development. This Spring Festival attracted tourists from over 160 countries and regions, with their footprints covering more than 300 Chinese cities. The number of foreigners entering under visa-waiver policies reached 460,000, representing a daily average increase of 28.5% compared to the 2025 holiday. A growing number of international visitors are drawn to experience Chinese New Year festivities, tour the vast landscape, and immerse themselves in Chinese culture. This not only boosts inbound tourism consumption but also showcases an open, prosperous, and charming China to the world. The steady recovery of inbound tourism is both a result of improved quality in China's cultural and tourism services and a vivid reflection of high-level opening-up, injecting new momentum into the mutual promotion of domestic and international economic cycles.
These vibrant data sets are vivid annotations of the Spring Festival and powerful demonstrations of the resilience and vitality of the Chinese economy. Building on the positive momentum from the start of the new year, by continuously stimulating consumption potential, deepening the integration of culture and tourism, and promoting consumption upgrading to better meet the people's growing needs for a better life, the Chinese economy is poised to advance steadily and write new glorious chapters on the path of high-quality development.
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