China’s National Day Holiday Shifts Spending Toward Emotional Experiences

What changed

China’s National Day holiday is putting emotional experiences at the center of spending, from stress-relief toys and pet events to riverside meals timed around fireworks. In Wuhan, a “捏捏” fair filled more than 60 stalls at K11 Shopping Art Center, while Binjiang Tianjie drew diners seeking the atmosphere of watching fireworks beside the Yangtze River.

The shift reaches beyond Wuhan. Beijing’s hutong gatherings, a short-drama experience site in Zhejiang and IP-themed events in Chengdu all turn leisure, local culture and shared feeling into things people can buy. The market is cited at 2.72 trillion yuan, though the figure’s definition is unclear.

Why it matters

The useful phrase here is “heart value”: spending judged by how it feels, not only by what it does. A squishy toy can offer a small release after work. A riverside table can sell togetherness as much as dinner. A plush “蒜鸟,” named after a Wuhan pun meaning “算了” (roughly, “let it go”) carries a local mood home in a shopping bag.

That changes the job for commercial operators. Discounts and useful goods are no longer the whole pitch. The setting, the cultural reference and the chance to participate now help determine whether an outing feels worth paying for.

The trend may fade after the holiday, and the reporting does not show whether spending rose from the previous National Day. Its stronger point is about what businesses are being asked to make: not just a product with a catchy theme, but an experience rooted in local culture and recognisable human needs. If the novelty outlasts the holiday crowds, “heart value” could become a more durable test of what consumers consider worth buying.