Global Times reporters who returned to Chongqing and Fujian for this year’s festival were able to experience the booming tourism from lining up with travelers for popular delicacies, such as the iconic spicy hotpot and Shaxian delicacies to revisit the jam-packed scenic spots.
The vibrant tourism along with the thriving consumption have not only injected more vitality to propel the local economies and dedicated industrial upgrading but also poised an accelerated recovery of the world’s second largest economy for the Year of the Dragon.
Travel boom
Many hotpot restaurants in Chongqing closed during the holidays, but those that were still open have seen surging numbers of customers. The Global Times reporter had to wait for more than 50 people in the queue for a three-seat table at a local hotpot restaurant, which was already a switch from a hotpot restaurant with more than 90 tables ahead in the line.
Chongqing-style hot pot Photos: VCG
“I have never seen so many tourists in Chongqing before, and the number of tourists visiting major scenic spots may be more than the number of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in October 2023,” a driver surnamed Zhang who works for an online ride-hailing app told the Global Times.
On a separate trip to the renowned Hongyadong area located in the Yuzhong district in Chongqing, the Global Times reporter observed throng of tourists flocking to the scenic spot to secure the best locations for taking photos.
People perform a fire dragon dance on the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, Feb 9, 2024. Photo:Xinhua
Standing on the congested streets near Hongyadong, the Global Times reporters also witnessed a wide range of vehicles from diverse regions across the country from Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to South China’s Guangdong Province driving on the streets.
The travel orders for Chongqing on domestic booking platforms surged 91 percent year-on-year, while the ticket number recorded an annual growth of 306 percent, local news outlet Chongqing Daily reported.
Similar scenes were also seen in Quanzhou city, Fujian. The local cultural tourism has been gaining more popularity, which further bolstered the businesses, a local ride-hailing driver surnamed Wang told the Global Times.
Wang said that he has been working nonstop from day to night during the holidays. “I have my breakfast at 6:30 in the morning and don’t even have time for a sip of water until 5 pm.”
Meanwhile, tourists have flourished to the Shaxian county in Sanming, Fujian – which is well-known for its Shaxian delicacies.
Chen Xiangyong, a tourist from South China’s Hainan Province, told the Global Times that he and his family specifically came to the county for the delicacies, and tried out various kinds of authentic delicacies. He also praised the convenient local transportation.
Originating from a small county with a population of about 230,000, Shaxian delicacies have swept across the streets of China since the 1980s, with locals traveling afar setting up family-run outlets.
Shaxian delicacies, dubbed as the Chinese McDonald’s-like food chain, has gained great popularity and emerged as one of the county’s pillar industries with great varieties and widely acclaimed flavors and reasonable prices, including dishes such as peanut butter noodles, wontons filled with juicy meat, fried rice noodles and meat soup.
Data showed that the number of visitors to key cultural tourism attractions in China has reached 123 million, an increase of 22.8 percent over the same period in 2023.
Observers expected the consumption boom during the Spring Festival holidays will play a vital role in boosting China’s economic development in the first quarter of 2024, and the bustling start to the new year will pave the way for economic development throughout the year of the dragon.
People have a family reunion dinner in Huangtian Village of Yongchun County, Quanzhou, southeast China’s Fujian Province, Feb. 9, 2024. People across the country enjoy the festive atmosphere with family reunion dinners on the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year on Friday. Photo: Xinhua
All-round industrial upgrade
Driven up by the growing market demand, both Chongqing and Shaxian county have ramped up efforts to advance the corresponding industrial development, which on the other side significantly elevate the local attractiveness for domestic and international travelers.
The expansion of the Shaxian delicacies has driven up the industrial integration and development, and more than 88,000 Shaxian eateries now opened across China which boosted the development of local industries from food processing to ingredients planting, with the industrial output for the food processing industry exceeding 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in 2022, Wang Jianyun, an official from the Sanming Shaxian Snacks Culture Tourism Development Group Co, told the Global Times.
Wang added that the operation of a local cultural district themed around Shaxian delicacies went into full swing, while the whole Shaxian county now attracts more than five million visitors annually. The added value of local tertiary industries, including logistics and distribution, food service and tourism, exceeded 12 billion yuan.
Wang noted that local authorities have strengthened professional guidance and financial support to involved enterprises and practitioners.
The Chongqing municipal government in January released a guideline to promote the high-quality development of the local hotpot industry covering 11 aspects, which has set up the goal of achieving the industrial output value of 500 billion yuan by 2027 with a slew of measures to back up the development for the whole industrial and supply chains.
Currently, more than 30,000 hot pot stores have been opened in Chongqing, and the output value of the whole industry chain has exceeded 300 billion yuan, according to media reports.
