For the Chinese people, the eternal theme of the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, remains family reunion, yet an increasing number of Chinese are choosing to integrate travel and movie-watching into their holiday traditions.

The eight-day holiday saw a record number of people go on trips, more holiday goods purchases, and more quality family time spent in doing leisure activities. The growing spending power of Chinese consumers, combined with government policies to support shopping, tourism and cultural events during the holiday, will definitely contribute to sustaining China's economic growth this year, according to government officials and market analysts.

Tourism

China's tourism market boomed during the holiday, with indicators such as the number of trips reaching a new high.

Data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shows that 474 million domestic tourism trips were made during the Spring Festival holiday, marking a 34.3 percent increase from the same period last year and an increase of 19 percent compared to the pre-pandemic level in 2019. Domestic tourists spent about 632.69 billion yuan in total, up 7.7 percent from the same period in 2019.

Railway passenger trip data is a leading measure of the country's Spring Festival holiday festivities, which feature the largest population migration in a year.

On Feb. 17, the last day of the eight-day holiday, nearly 16.07 million railway trips were recorded, smashing the single-day passenger trips record in the Spring Festival travel rush period for four days in a row, according to data from the China State Railway Group, the national railway operator. Chinese railways reported 99.46 million passenger trips in total for the holiday. 

Air travel also experienced a significant uptick, with data from VariFlight, a China-based civil aviation data service provider, indicating sustained high volumes of passengers from the first to the sixth day of the Chinese New Year. Predominant destinations include first- and second-tier central cities as well as popular tourist hubs.

Notably, scenic attractions nationwide witnessed notable increases in visitor numbers. Statistics reveal that China's major cultural and tourism sites have welcomed 123 million tourists as of last Wednesday, reflecting a robust 22.8 percent surge compared to the same period in 2023.

A distinct trend during the Spring Festival holiday is the cross-country travel phenomenon, where individuals from southern regions venture northward in pursuit of ice and snow, while northerners seek refuge from the cold by heading south to warmer climates.

The robust travel activity observed during the Spring Festival holiday sets a promising tone for the tourism industry in 2024. Projections from the China Tourism Academy indicate that Chinese tourists are poised to embark on over 6 billion domestic trips this year, with the combined tally of inbound and outbound international travelers expected to surpass 260 million, showcasing continued growth and vitality in the tourism sector.

Film market

During the Spring Festival holiday, watching movies is an increasingly popular activity for families and friends in China to celebrate their reunion, a trend that has contributed to the vibrancy of the country's film market in 2024.

Statistics from the China Film Administration, the nation's top industry regulator, showed that during the eight-day holiday period, the country grossed a whopping 8.02 billion yuan from 163 million tickets, surging 18.47 percent and 26.36 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year.

This surge in revenue during the festival is a testament to the broader recovery that China's film industry has experienced, particularly starting from 2023, with total box office revenue surpassing 54.9 billion yuan and nearly 1.3 billion tickets sold.

Data shows that the enthusiasm for movie-going is not limited to major cities. Residents of third- and fourth-tier cities have become major contributors to cinema consumption, accounting for more than half of the total box office revenue, at 54 percent, the highest in five years. Moreover, the trend of family viewership has seen growth, with groups of three or more increasing from less than 20 percent last year to 27 percent.

The diversity of this year's Spring Festival film lineup has also contributed to the booming market. Nine movies were released, primarily spanning the comedy and animation genres, catering to various audience segments.

While there were none of the blockbuster hits in hard science fiction and costume fantasy seen in recent years, 2024's lineup broke records in the pre-sale stage for Spring Festival films over the past three years, becoming the quickest pre-sale box office to surpass 100 million.

Among them, two have set off a social media buzz, with state agencies even joining the discussion which addresses topics such as weight loss, self-love and legal justice.

Directed, written and starring Jia Ling, a representative of the new generation of female Chinese directors, YOLO (“you only live once” or Re La Gun Tang in Chinese) is about an overweight woman, Leying, who loses weight through boxing training while finding herself and learning to love herself through the sport. The comedy film was the box-office champion with a take of 2.7 billion yuan. 

While adapted from the Japanese film 100 Yen Love, the Chinese version is exceptional for Jia’s physical transformation – for the movie she lost more than 50kg in a year to portray the rebirth of her character. 

Jia’s weight loss has been discussed more widely on social media than the film. But some top reviews on Douban said the film did not try to portray “losing weight”, but rather how a person could change their life through achieving a dream. The picture's focus on "female strength" has made it both a domestic blockbuster and a rising star in the overseas market as Sony Pictures recently acquired the film's international distr