Restaurants see more customers as Beijing further loosens COVID control measures. Photo: Li Hao/GT

 
During the Christmas weekend, Beijing residents cannot wait to go outside and enjoy the festive atmosphere in supermarkets, shopping malls and outdoor activities following the recent optimization of epidemic responses, including the scrapping of mandatory COVID-19 testing and health code requirements.

Traffic at major shopping malls in the capital city surged during the weekend. Fantastic themed activities and multiple promotions were launched by retailers and merchants in the hope that domestic consumption will roar back, along with the festive atmosphere.

A Beijing resident surnamed Li told the Global Times on Sunday that road traffic has obviously increased compared with two weeks ago when the streets were largely empty as people were trapped at home recovering from the virus.

"It took me nearly half an hour to drive into and drive out of the parking lot of the Huiju Shopping Center," Li said. He was looking forward to a big meal with his family in the shopping plaza in Beijing's Daxing district.

"It coincides with the Christmas festival and I want to take my child to feel the cheerful atmosphere," he said. 

"As Beijing's restaurants have recently scrapped health code requirements, now people are lining up for meals. Some even started waiting around 4:30 pm, when catering businesses are not open for business yet," Li added.

As more people are recovering from Omicron-induced symptoms like fever and cough, they cannot wait to go outdoors. 

"It feels so good to see so many people, and I want to embrace them," Jiang, a Beijing-based white-collar worker, told the Global Times on Sunday. She stayed at home for about two weeks after infected with the virus.

She waited for about 50 minutes for a Heytea milk tea and half an hour for a popular snack. "The traffic flow was reviving quickly."

Heshenghui, a shopping center in Beijing's Chaoyang district, saw visitors flow exceeding 100,000 on Saturday alone, while for Xidan Joy City, another popular shopping mall in the city, the visitors flow on Saturday doubled from the previous day. Its catering outlets' sales grew seven-fold from the previous Saturday, according to a report by the Beijing News.

Song Xuan, vice president of Xibei Youmiancun Restaurant, a popular chain restaurant, told the Global Times on Sunday that with more people recovering from COVID-19, its business is back to steady growth.

"About 80 percent of our workers at Xibei in Beijing have healed after infection, so our catering ability has resumed to normal," Song said, believing the overall situation in the catering industry will rebound next year. 

Apart from shopping malls, scenic venues in the capital city also witnessed growing visits during the weekend.

Data from online travel platform Trip.com showed on Sunday that ticket reservations for scenic spots in Beijing during the week from December 19 to 23 rose by 177 percent compared with the previous week.