Chongqing- During the Spring Festival holiday, retail sales in major commercial districts and key commercial enterprises throughout Chongqing Municipality reached 27.41 billion yuan (about USD 4.24 billion), a year-on-year increase of 49.9%, according to the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce Wednesday.

This year, many locals followed the call to remain in Chongqing for the Spring Festival, and major tourist attractions offered preferential discounts for residents who chose to stay in the city rather than return to their home provinces.

A variety of popular events were held to showcase the rich heritage of folk culture in Chongqing, which included the Wulong Fairy Mountain Hot Pot Cultural Festival, Youyang Gongtan Ancient Town New Year Lantern Festival, Pengshui Food Festival, and the Happy Valley New Year Traditional Chinese Costume Festival.

Various scenic spots launched multiple discounts to attract tourists, such as 5,000 free entrance tickets for Simian Mountain. Seasonal products such as Tongjing Hot Springs and Jihua Park were also highly popular thanks to ultra-low discounts, while a series of promotions attracted large numbers of tourists, such as the free entrance to the Furong Cave Scenic Area in Wulong.

In line with measures for epidemic prevention and control, live cloud broadcasts were held to showcase popular cultural activities in Chongqing on platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weibo.

During the Spring Festival, there were live broadcasts of intangible cultural heritage in Chongqing that featured the Tongliang dragon dance, Liangping new year woodcut pictures, Xiushan lanterns, Pengshui Gaotai lion dance, as well as Qianjiang lion and dragon dance.

While midnight and family reunion banquets were the main feature in the Spring Festival catering market, popular venues such as major hotels and specialty restaurants also boomed during the holiday.

Full dinners and pre-prepared dishes for New Year's Eve dinners sold well in large supermarkets, while many of them unveiled online zones themed on new year flavors in response to the initiative calling in people to spend the new year locally.

Business and festivities throughout the New Year

In addition to Chongqing delicacies, there were also national delicacies on offer to satisfy the culinary tastes of non-local residents from all corners nationwide.

A number of restaurants in Chongqing remained open throughout the Spring Festival in order that citizens staying in Chongqing could reserve New Year’s Eve and family reunion banquets with convenience.

Traditional Chinese restaurants, hotpot, and fast food outlets were among those to remain open, as nearly 300 catering firms launched set meals with takeaway delivery services available to offer both convenience and affordability.

Major shopping malls launched various forms of mass catering promotions. For example, Jiefangbei Imix Park held the happy reunion banquet, while Chongqing Metropolitan Oriental Plaza joined hands with resident traders to offer 40% lunch discounts, as Chongqing local specialties tempted large numbers of citizens and tourists to consume.

Brisk economic activity

People returning home and holidaymakers in the countryside drove brisk business for rural guesthouses, as turnover in the districts of Banan District, Nan'an District, Xiushan County, and Qijiang District increased by factors of 3.8, 2.1, 4.1, and 5.8 respectively.

Major business districts, pedestrian streets, shopping malls, and supermarket chains took advantage of commercial opportunities to promote high-quality products such as local specialty products, green organic food, new electronic products, souvenir gifts, and imported goods to fully satisfy the diversified range of consumer demand.

In addition, the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce aggregated well-known national e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, JD.com, Suning, Meituan, and Pinduoduo with the local Chongqing platforms to carry out a series of promotional events to stimulate consumption and a festive shopping atmosphere.

Key business districts such as Guanyinqiao and Jiefangbei launched various promotional events to ignite enthusiasm for shopping. According to statistics, consumer traffic in the five major business districts of Chongqing reached 12.05 million, an increase of 4% over 2019.

Overall sales in the key business districts increased by 91.7% year on year.