As the Lunar New Year approaches, Guangzhou's spring flower markets are opening, Heilongjiang's ice and snow festivals are bustling with visitors, Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden lantern festival is about to light up, and Shanxi's Huairen New Year market is already crowded with people. With the "longest Spring Festival holiday" coinciding with the Year of the Horse, a vibrant "holiday economy" is unfolding across China. Despite the winter chill, festive warmth prevails as traditional holiday demands merge with new consumption scenarios, while policy benefits and market vitality reinforce each other. This combination gives the "holival economy" both strong festive atmosphere and robust growth momentum, making it a vivid indicator of China's economic recovery and domestic demand potential.

The Spring Festival has always been a key period for annual consumption. As the holiday nears, various regions are rolling out measures to boost spending, adding fuel to the "holiday economy." Nine government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, have jointly launched the "Happy Spring Festival Shopping" campaign, offering consumer benefits across dining, accommodation, travel, shopping, and entertainment. These initiatives cover key areas such as appliance trade-ins, auto consumption support, shopping district promotions, and online New Year sales. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started a nationwide cultural and tourism consumption month, with around 30,000 events planned and over 360 million yuan in consumption vouchers and subsidies to precisely stimulate cultural and travel spending. With targeted policies, optimized supply, and steadily released demand, the "holiday economy" is heating up ahead of schedule, unlocking greater consumption potential.

Large-scale population movement leading to consumption boom is a distinct feature of the "holiday economy." Data shows that the 2026 Spring Festival travel season, spanning 40 days, is expected to see a record 9.5 billion cross-regional trips, combining family visits, tourism, and return trips, injecting vitality into the consumer market. The nine-day holiday allows for more relaxed travel and fuller consumption, with long-distance trips, in-depth tours, family travel, and reverse family reunions becoming mainstream. Popular travel routes include heading north for ice and snow activities, going south to escape the cold, exploring rural customs, and enjoying urban leisure. Additionally, more foreign tourists are visiting China to experience Lunar New Year traditions, taste local cuisine, and enjoy festive culture, making Chinese New Year a global celebration blending cultural charm and consumption appeal.

New Year shopping remains robust, preserving traditional flavors while showing upgrade trends. Sales of traditional items like food, alcohol, clothing, footwear, and gold jewelry at key retail enterprises are growing steadily before the holiday, while smart appliances, health products, cultural creative goods, and festive flowers are emerging as new consumption hotspots. According to the Ministry of Commerce, consumer trade-in policies benefited 16.13 million people in January, driving 92.56 billion yuan in sales of automobiles, home appliances, and digital products. Upgrade consumption has become a significant growth driver in the New Year shopping market. The integration of online and offline channels is accelerating, with prepared meals, small-portion reunion dinners, cross-border specialties, and local products gaining popularity. Diverse consumer preferences are shaping an inclusive and quality-upgraded holiday market, moving from "stocking up" to "choosing well" and from goods consumption to experiential spending.

Cultural tourism and service consumption have become key engines of the "holiday economy," driving both expansion and quality improvement. Cultural activities such as folk performances, lantern fairs, ice and snow carnivals, and intangible cultural heritage experiences are highly popular, with immersive, experiential, and interactive products being particularly favored. Dining consumption is peaking, with high demand for New Year's Eve dinners, reunion banquets, specialty snacks, and family meals. Semi-prepared dishes, delivered reunion meals, and healthier options are increasingly popular, reflecting an upgrade from "eating enough" to "eating well, with uniqueness and safety." The concentrated release of Spring Festival blockbuster films has significantly boosted cinema attendance, driving growth in surrounding retail, leisure, and entertainment. Fitness, skiing, hot springs, family parks, and cultural venues are also seeing surging visitor numbers, with service consumption accounting for a growing share. This shift is transforming the "holiday economy" from goods-dominated to a dual-driven model of goods and services.

Beyond the bustling "holiday economy," we see not only short-term festive consumption but also the steady progress of China's economy and the continuous unlocking of domestic demand potential. The prosperity of the "holiday economy" benefits from China's vast market scale, improving consumption environment, and innovative supply systems, supported by precise macro policies and active market participation. From crowded offline commercial districts to surging online orders, from the preservation and innovation of traditions to the growth of new business models, and from strong domestic supply and demand to recovering inbound consumption, the "holiday economy" vividly demonstrates the resilience and vitality of China's economy.

As the Lunar New Year approaches, the festive atmosphere grows stronger. Within the lively "holiday economy" lies the warmth of family reunions, the confidence of market players, and the solid foundation for China's stable economic growth. With expanding consumption scenarios, improving consumption quality, and precise policy implementation, the momentum of the "holiday economy" will extend throughout the year, further unlocking domestic demand potential and injecting sustained, powerful impetus into China's high-quality development. This will make the New Year richer in atmosphere, consumption more vigorous, the economy more dynamic, and people's livelihoods warmer.