Dragon Boat Festival Sparks Major Boost in China's Holiday Spending

The recently concluded three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday has set new records for domestic travel and spending across China. A whopping 119 million domestic trips were recorded during the festival period, generating 42.7 billion yuan in total domestic tourism revenue. The festival, which blends ancient tradition with modern celebration, is fast becoming a major catalyst for China's tourism and consumer markets.

The holiday also saw unprecedented international movement. According to official data, 5.9 million cross-border movements were processed—highlighting both the growing openness of Chinese society and the rising appeal of the festival to international visitors.


From drums to zongzi: A festival reimagined

Celebrations across the country reflected both regional diversity and a strong sense of community. In Beijing's Tongzhou District, the 2025 Grand Canal Dragon Boat Carnival drew thirty-two teams from as far as Guangdong and Hebei, transforming the canal into a vibrant stage for fierce racing and dazzling displays. The Lingnan team from Guangdong wowed onlookers with dramatic dragon boat drifting maneuvers, including sharp turns and 360-degree spins that drew thunderous applause from the crowd. The event also featured creative contests, including tug-of-war, paddle board races, and arm wrestling, echoing the communal joy and physical prowess that characterize the festival.

Online commentary put a humorous spin on regional variations. Northern dragon boat races are famous for their playful, sometimes chaotic finales—with rowers plunging into the water—compared to the precision-driven competitions of the south. Social media users joked about the contrasting styles, with some calling northern races “rescue missions” and southern ones “quests to accompany Qu Yuan,” the legendary poet whose tragic end gave rise to the festival.

The origin story of the Dragon Boat Festival dates back over two thousand years. As legend has it, Qu Yuan, a revered poet and government minister, drowned himself in despair after the fall of his capital city. Locals raced boats to retrieve him, throwing zongzi—glutinous rice parcels—into the river to protect his body from hungry fish.

This year, zongzi made headlines with flavorful innovations. In Chengdu's Jinniu District, vendors delighted festival-goers with both traditional fillings—pork and egg yolk—and unexpected twists like chocolate and pineapple. One vendor’s gigantic zongzi, packed with slabs of pork belly and seven salted duck eggs and weighing up to 1.5 kilograms, became a celebrated treat. “It’s a family-sized zongzi,” the vendor explained, “meant to bring people together.”

The zongzi craze even went global. A Zhejiang-based company teamed up with Chinese students at Oxford University to host a “Dragon Boat Culture Day,” live-streaming dumpling-making workshops and sharing stories behind the festival. Manager Shen Qian described efforts to highlight “the craftsmanship behind zongzi, traceable ingredients, and the story behind the festival.” The company’s products found eager consumers in supermarkets from Southeast Asia to Canada, with especially strong sales in South Korea.

Tourism gets a cultural makeover

The tourism sector experienced a robust upswing. With the festival coinciding with Children’s Day, parent-child tourism surged by nearly 20 percent. Interest in traditional experiences—such as dragon boat races and zongzi-making workshops—jumped by 105 percent compared to last year. Theme parks, hotels, and camping spots reported booking increases of more than 100 percent, underscoring the renewed appetite for domestic travel.

Across China, scenic destinations are responding to evolving traveler expectations. At Yuntai Mountain in Henan Province, a shift from basic sightseeing to immersive cultural engagement is underway. Visitors now try their hands at Jiaotai porcelain, a Tang Dynasty-era craft, directly from local masters. The resulting mugs, teacups, and souvenirs have boosted both cultural heritage and local employment.

Adventurous guests can explore paddle boarding, cliffside climbing, or jungle roller coasters thanks to the region's natural terrain. Local initiatives since 2017, such as three-day ticket validity, encourage longer stays. The transformation of area homestays into full-service rural resorts offers fruit-picking, handicraft classes, and stargazing camps, further fueling economic growth and rural revitalization.

According to local officials, Anshang Town—the service hub for Yuntai Mountain—now generates over 50 million yuan annually and supports more than 700 jobs. The booming hospitality sector has helped drive per capita rural income above 62,000 yuan a year, demonstrating how holiday traditions, when reimagined for today’s travelers, can create lasting economic and social benefits.

Editor: Yang Xuemin