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People watch a lion dance performance during a temple fair at the Dongyue temple in Beijing on January 29, 2025. Photo: VCG

As the Year of the Snake comes, a refreshing breeze has ushered in the much-anticipated 8-day-long Spring Festival holiday, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations for many in China.

People immersed themselves in traditional temple fairs, lantern displays, and modern live performances, while an increasing number of them ventured out - heading north for snowy escapes, or south for culinary adventures.

While people chew traditional culture, more and more innovative activities and business models have emerged. For example, cutting-edge modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) have been seamlessly integrated into traditional Spring Festival events like temple fairs, making the holiday experience even more vibrant and diverse.

Festive activities, spending

The fusion of traditional culture with new forms of consumption sparked an unprecedented surge of fresh energy, highlighting the strong resilience and dynamism of the world's second-largest economy.

During the 8-day-long holiday starting January 28, the average daily sales of consumption-related sectors nationwide went up by 10.8 percent compared to the previous year's Spring Festival holiday, with goods consumption up 9.9 percent and services consumption rising 12.3 percent year-on-year, the People's Daily reported, citing value-added tax (VAT) invoice data released by the State Taxation Administration (STA).

Tourism spending surged too, with total sale revenues from tourism-related services increasing by 37.5 percent year-on-year, STA data showed.

A total of 501 million domestic trips were made nationwide during the holiday, up 5.9 percent year-on-year. Total spending reached 677 billion yuan ($93 billion), up 7 percent. Both domestic trip numbers and overall spending made new records, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday.

In the meantime, international travel witnessed significant growth. Data from the online travel platform Trip.com revealed that inbound tourist orders during the Spring Festival season jumped by 203 percent year-on-year.

This year's Spring Festival is the first since being added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2024. Traditional activities like temple fairs, lantern displays, and paper-cutting have gained widespread popularity, while entertainment and leisure items have emerged as new trends in tourism consumption. Sales revenue from leisure and sightseeing activities grew by 81.9 percent, park service revenue saw an increase of 59.5 percent, and amusement park services rose by 14.1 percent year-on-year, STA data showed.

Also, as more people embrace the so-called "Ice and Snow +" innovative consumption model, winter sports have not only become a popular pastime but also driven the growth of the entire ice and snow associated tourism sector, offering visitors a completely new winter travel experience.

The country's tourism market has thrived with incessant innovations, backed up with Chinese households' growing disposable incomes.

From folk experiences in snowy landscapes to leisurely escapes on sun-drenched beaches and festive reunions around the world, the vibrant Spring Festival holiday has laid a strong foundation for sustained growth in tourism economy. It has also provided a significant boost to confidence in building a strong tourism industry and advancing high-quality economic development, Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said in a recent commentary released by the research institute.

It's not just the booming tourism industry, numerous cultural activities centered around themes like ice and snow, performing arts, and folk traditions have taken place across the country, meeting consumers' diverse cultural consumption needs. Sales revenue from cultural and artistic services during the long holiday rose by 66.3 percent year-on-year, STA data showed.

For instance, Beijing's Haidian district introduced AI technology to help ramp up residents' spending during the Spring Festival, by hosting Beijing's first technology-themed temple fair.

Winning global recognition

Pet-related consumption during the Spring Festival has also become increasingly popular. New trends such as Chinese New Year's Eve pet dinners, pet portraits, pet outfits, and pet grooming services have sparked a fresh wave of events and spending.

The strong performance of Spring Festival consumption underscores the strength and resilience of China's economy, while the booming inbound tourism reflects the distinct charm of Chinese culture on the global stage, Wen Bin, chief economist of China Minsheng Bank, told the Global Times on Thursday.

With a series of policies aimed at boosting consumption and expanding domestic demand, the consumption environment is expected to improve, further fueling consumption momentum, Wen said.

Efforts should be made to vigorously boost China's domestic consumption, improve investment efficiency, and expand domestic demand on all fronts. And work is needed to create more diversified consumption scenarios, expand service consumption, and promote the development of cultural tourism, said the agenda-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing in December 2024.

The traditional Spring Festival used to be celebrated by Chinese communities, but today, it has become a globally recognized holiday. Once centered on food and entertainment, the festival has now evolved into a global phenomenon that integrates cultural traditions with modern consumer trends, Hong Tao, director of the Institute of Business Economics at Beijing Technology and Business University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

It has also become a catalyst for innovation across eight industries - digital technology, agriculture, commerce, finance, tourism, culture, sports, and wellness - driving the development of new business models, special products, innovative services, and immersive sightseeing experiences, Hong said.

With China's Spring Festival now inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list, the 2025 celebration has more or less helped transform the Chinese Spring Festival into a global event. As the festival gains worldwide recognition, the internationalization of Spring Festival consumption is sure to bring a wealth of exciting highlights in the coming years, Hong noted.