Tourists visit the trendy ancient street Jingji Road in Zhenjiang, East China's Jiangsu Province, on October 4, 2025. Photo: VCG

At the halfway point of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, China's tourism and consumption markets are thriving. Experts noted that inbound tourists are adding new growth momentum, while experience-oriented spending driven by cultural and sports activities is emerging as a new highlight.

China's railways handled 18.33 million passenger trips on October 4. During the holiday period that began on September 29, cumulative passenger trips had exceeded 100 million as of October 4, reaching 110 million. On October 5, 17.55 million passenger trips were expected, with 927 additional trains scheduled, according to China Railway.

Sales of major retail and catering enterprises across China rose by 3.3 percent year-on-year during the first four days of the holiday, according to CCTV News, citing data from the Ministry of Commerce.

From October 1 to 4, the total number of cross-regional passenger trips across China was estimated at 1.25 billion, up 5.7 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province - along with popular tourist cities such as Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province - remained the top choices for holiday travel. Each of the four cities - Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Beijing -recorded an average of more than 5 million trips per day, according to the People's Daily.

According to statistics from the Hengqin immigration inspection station, the station had processed more than 452,000 inbound and outbound travelers and over 42,000 vehicles between October 1 and 4, year-on-year increases of 22.5 percent and 44.8 percent respectively, according to CCTV News.

In the first half of the Golden Week holidays, China's tourism and consumption boomed. While domestic tourist numbers continued to grow steadily, inbound visitors added new growth momentum, Xu Xiaolei, marketing manager at CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Sunday.

According to data from CYTS Tours Holding on Beijing's Gubei Water Town during the ongoing holiday, inbound tour groups accounted for 50 percent of all group visitors and 53 percent of total group spending, Xu said.

Notably, this Golden Week has seen the rise of the "experience economy," with tourism growth increasingly driven by cultural experiences and sports-related activities.

The China Open tennis tournament and the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash in Beijing have sparked a wave of enthusiasm among spectators. Provincial amateur football tournaments such as the "Suchao" and "Chuanchao" have continued to boost ticket-based tourism. Meanwhile, a wide range of fitness activities - including running, cycling, and swimming - are being actively held in many other regions across the country, injecting vibrant energy into the holiday season.

During this National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, more than 12,000 cultural events are being held nationwide. Diverse and engaging cultural and tourism activities - such as "culture & tourism + technology," "culture & tourism + industry," and "culture & tourism + performances" - are set to better meet consumers' varied demands, the People's Daily reported.

The booming tourism market, led by cultural activity experiences and sports spectating, reflects new trends and changes in China's long-holiday tourism amid consumption upgrading and digital transformation - growth driven by the "experience economy," Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Many consumers visit scenic spots associated with films and TV shows for immersive experiences, often recording videos and live-streaming them online. This reflects a new economic model emerging from the integration of the digital economy with the cultural tourism industry. Such demand is expected to peak and experience explosive growth during long holidays like Golden Week, Cao said.

Global Times