During the Spring Festival, Beijing’s Ditan Temple Fair received 1.024 million visitors, setting a new record.
In the Year of the Snake, the consumption concept of “refusing waste and celebrating frugally” has become a prevailing trend. However, less waste does not mean less spending. Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that during the Spring Festival golden (1617.00,7.50,0.47%) week, consumption was active. From New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, sales at key monitored retail and catering enterprises nationwide reached 539 billion yuan, a 14.7% increase compared to the Spring Festival of 2012. In addition, the national tourism market was also booming.
Order food in moderation
This Spring Festival, a new trend emerged in the catering market — more frugality and value, and less extravagance and waste.
In Linhai City, Zhejiang Province, reporters learned that some high-end restaurants, which usually cater to a more affluent clientele, saw a “less at first, more later” pattern in customer traffic recently. Mid-range restaurants and eateries actually did better business than high-end ones. Insiders familiar with the local catering industry said that in previous years, a month before Spring Festival, high-end restaurants would be bustling, mainly due to banquets organized by government departments and enterprises. But this year, such events were largely canceled. However, starting from New Year’s Eve, family gatherings and meals among relatives and friends became the main source of customers, bringing considerable business to the catering industry — though these gatherings mostly opted for mid- to low-end restaurants.
In Huangshan Scenic Area, Anhui Province, major hotels and guesthouses actively responded to the “Clean Your Plate” campaign by creating promotional posters to remind guests to dine frugally and consume in moderation. Restaurant servers also kindly reminded diners to order according to their actual needs when they were placing orders.
In Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, “slimming down” in dining became a highlight. According to well-known catering businesses such as Louwailou, Zhiweiguan, and Xinhua Zhongcheng, during the Spring Festival, citizens mostly ordered just enough to eat, and the practice of taking leftovers home noticeably increased.
A survey by the Ministry of Commerce showed that in terms of the consumption structure in the catering market, sales of high-end restaurants, premium ingredients, and high-end alcoholic beverages dropped significantly. Among them, sales at key monitored high-end restaurants in Zhejiang fell by more than 20% compared to the Spring Festival of last year. Meanwhile, popular catering options serving family reunion dinners and gatherings among relatives and friends saw greater popularity than ever. Key monitored catering enterprises in Tianjin, Hubei, Shanghai, and Henan recorded year-on-year revenue growth of 18.5%, 15.5%, 6.0%, and 5.3%, respectively. Catering businesses in Beijing, Hebei, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, and Chongqing offered customers options for ordering in moderation, such as “half portions” and “combo dishes,” along with differently sized plates and free packaging services based on individual needs — all of which were well-received and praised by consumers.
Set off fewer fireworks
Setting off fireworks and firecrackers during the Spring Festival is a traditional custom in China. Given that many parts of the country experienced severe smog earlier, some media outlets and netizens have called on people to set off fewer or no fireworks during the Spring Festival to reduce PM2.5-emitting smoke and dust and to celebrate an environmentally friendly holiday.
Although completely refraining from fireworks remains difficult, there has indeed been a noticeable reduction in their use this year. On February 9, Lunar New Year’s Eve, reporters in Linhai City, Zhejiang Province, observed that before the New Year’s bell rang, the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers were far from non-stop, and they quickly became sparse once the bell sounded.
According to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment’s Sanitation Management Office, by 16:00 on February 16 (the seventh day of the Lunar New Year), sanitation departments across the city had cleared and collected a total of 5,282.55 tons of fireworks residue, a decrease of 331.83 tons compared to the same period during the 2012 Spring Festival.
In addition, Guangzhou canceled its annual Spring Festival fireworks show held on the first day of the Lunar New Year for 18 consecutive years, saving over 10 million yuan alone. Cities such as Zhengzhou and Dalian also no longer hold fireworks shows.
Regarding the claim that setting off firecrackers is a Spring Festival tradition, Professor Wu Yan from Beijing Normal University said that ancient major festivals also included sacrificial offerings, which have long been abolished, yet people still enjoy the Spring Festival just as much. While emissions from vehicles on the streets, chemical plants, and cement factories are more significant sources of pollution, this should not be used as a reason to consider the pollution caused by fireworks during the Spring Festival negligible. “Environmental protection is for ourselves, so we should start with what’s around us.”
Self-drive tours
Traveling during the Spring Festival is both eco-friendly and fashionable, becoming the choice of more and more people — especially self-drive tours, which have become a highlight of the Spring Festival tourism market.
This year’s Spring Festival golden week continued the national policy of waiving tolls for small passenger vehicles on expressways during major holidays. According to monitoring by the Road Network Center of the Ministry of Transport, from 00:00 on February 9 to 24:00 on February 14, the total traffic volume on national expressways (excluding Hainan and Tibet) reached 96.7033 million vehicle trips, a 80.1% increase compared to the same period last year. Among them, the total traffic volume of small passenger vehicles with seven seats or fewer was 89.6731 million, accounting for 92.7% of the total traffic and representing a 92.1% year-on-year increase. Thanks to the implementation of a fast-track model at toll-free lanes — “no card issuance at entrance, barrier lifting at exit” — along with enhanced forecasting and early warning for severe weather, strengthened traffic guidance and order maintenance on key road sections, advance development of diversion and detour plans, and timely release of travel information, there were no large-scale or prolonged traffic jams.
The toll-free policy on expressways has spurred people’s enthusiasm for travel, and the boom in self-drive tours arrived as expected. The National Holiday Tourism Inter-Agency Coordination Conference Office announced on February 17 that monitoring data showed that after the start of the Spring Festival holiday, the number of visitors to most scenic spots and tourist attractions across the country increased significantly, especially for short-distance trips. Tourists showed high enthusiasm for travel. Folk culture tours, leisure tours, self-drive tours, and rural tours around cities became notably popular. Activities such as visiting temple fairs, tasting local cuisine, soaking in hot springs, and skiing — which are highly participatory and suitable for family outings — were particularly favored by tourists.
Statistics show that during this year’s Spring Festival golden week, the country received a total of 203 million visitors, a 15.1% increase compared to the Spring Festival golden week of the previous year. Tourism revenue reached 117.06 billion yuan, up 15.4%. Of the 203 million visitors, 48.25 million were overnight tourists (limited to those staying in hotels, inns, and guesthouses), while 155 million were same-day visitors. Thirty-nine key tourist cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Chengde, Qinhuangdao, Shenyang, and Dalian, received a total of 76.43 million visitors, of which 12.99 million were overnight tourists and 63.44 million were same-day visitors.