Shotlist Beijing, China - Jan 1-3, 2026 1. Various of visitors in park Beijing, China - Jan 3, 2026 2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed with English) resident (name not given): "During the New Year holiday, people seem more inclined to travel to the suburbs. Many are really enjoying outdoor activities." 3. SOUNDBITE (English) international visitor: "The queues are very well managed. We are not used to it, it's crowded everywhere." 4. SOUNDBITE (English) international visitor: "It was a nice surprise to be here. So I hope we can come back, but we don't know when." China - Jan 1-3, 2026 5. Various of travelers at airport Beijing, China - Jan 3, 2026 6. SOUNDBITE (English) international visitor: "We see it's very busy and it's a very nice setting. We'll probably go to Shanghai, Shenzhen, stuff like that." 7. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed with English) resident (name not given): "As a local Beijinger, I feel the New Year holiday has brought noticeably larger crowds across the city this year" China - Jan 1-3, 2026 8. Various of visitors at hotel reception desk; receptionist checking on booking information on cell phone 9. Various of consumers in cafe; barista serving consumer Beijing, China - Jan 3, 2026 10. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed with English) resident (name not given/ending with shot 11): "New Year spending feels just as strong as major shopping festivals like the "Double 11" shopping festival. People still have strong purchasing power." 11. People in park China - Jan 1-3, 2026 12. Various of travelers passing ticket gates 13. Various of travelers on lift, walking on railway platform 14. Various of visitors in scenic spot Storyline The three-day New Year holiday has sparked a surge in consumer spending and travel in China, with online platforms reporting surging demand for flights, hotels and leisure activities. Nearly 590 million passenger trips were made nationwide during the holiday, with an average of about 198 million per day, marking a nearly 20 percent increase from last year, data from the Ministry of Transport showed. Air ticket bookings for popular destinations rose 20 percent year-on-year during the holiday, according to the travel platform Qunar, and domestic hotel bookings on Fliggy increased 280 percent on the first day of the New Year holiday, compared with the same period last year. New Year holiday bookings for domestic scenic attractions jumped more than fourfold from a year ago, while inbound tourism reservations also rose sharply, marking the first consumption boom of 2026, according to the latest report from the online ticketing platform Ctrip. "During the New Year holiday, people seem more inclined to travel to the suburbs. Many are really enjoying outdoor activities," said a resident in Beijing. "The queues are very well managed. We are not used to it, it's crowded everywhere," said an international visitor. "It was a nice surprise to be here. So I hope we can come back, but we don't know when," said another international visitor. "We see it's very busy and it's a very nice setting. We'll probably go to Shanghai, Shenzhen, stuff like that," said an international visitor. "As a local Beijinger, I feel the New Year holiday has brought noticeably larger crowds across the city this year," said a Beijing resident. Holiday spending is widely regarded as a key barometer of economic momentum. Consumers showed stronger spending power during the New Year holiday, with average purchases per person up over 20 percent and spending up more than 30 percent year on year, a report from Fliggy showed. The report also showed that leisure product reservations rose more than 270 percent from last year on the first day of the holiday. "New Year spending feels just as strong as major shopping festivals like the 'Double 11' shopping festival. People still have strong purchasing power," said a Beijing resident. Winter tourism is also gaining momentum. Data from travel platforms shows a shift toward higher-quality, experience-driven snow destinations, with regions with premium ski resorts seeing sharp rises in popularity. Travelers from southern cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen have become a major source of demand for snow tourism in northern destinations such as Altay. At the same time, flight bookings to tropical destinations such as Sanya and Haikou have surged year on year, underscoring a two-way travel flow between China’s north and south. Younger consumers, especially those born in the 1990s and 2000s, are driving demand for quality and experience-focused travel, fueling a sharp rise in bookings for standalone vacation homes. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]