"What pandemic? During the holidays, a surge in tourists and a surge in crowds at the Great Wall" - the headline of a report by CNN on the 7th represents the general impression of foreigners on China's "National Day" Golden Week. Yahoo News Australia said on the 8th that Twitter users around the world were "shocked" by these photos of China's Golden Week. "500 million Chinese are on vacation, while people in other countries in the world are still dreaming of vacation," India's "ThePrint" website lamented that the Golden Week holiday showed China's confidence in economic recovery and public health measures.

According to statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the 8th, during the 8-day holiday, China received a total of 637 million Chinese tourists, a year-on-year recovery of 79.0% on a comparable basis; China's tourism revenue reached 466.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year recovery of 69.9% on a comparable basis. "There are concerns behind the beautiful data," some foreign media commented, after all, China's Golden Week tourism spending this year has not yet returned to last year's level, and "a full recovery of consumption may take some time."

Shock and envy

Yahoo News Australia said on the 8th that during the 8-day National Day holiday, millions of Chinese residents flocked to major popular tourist attractions, and these photos were shocking. "People crowded on the Great Wall and the ancient city wall of Xi'an. These scenes only appeared in life before the epidemic." According to the report, at present, the blockade of Victoria, Australia has hardly been relaxed, Spain is fighting a second wave of the epidemic, and the UK's chief scientific adviser Valens warned that "Britain is heading in the wrong direction"-and on the other side of the world, a "different story" is being played out. In China, where the new crown pneumonia epidemic broke out at the end of last year, "people enjoyed the first golden week holiday after the epidemic", and the photos from China triggered heated discussions among Twitter users around the world. Some people said, "My brain can't understand it", and some people said that these pictures clearly show that China is recovering from the new crown epidemic. Mr. Huo, a resident of Beijing, said that people are "traveling in revenge" and "this is our first chance to release after living under special pressure."

"Chinese people flock to the Great Wall as if there is no epidemic." The Swiss newspaper 20 Minutes published nine pictures of China's Golden Week on the 8th, showing the crowds of Chinese tourists at the Great Wall and other attractions, attracting many Swiss netizens to watch. One netizen who received the most likes wrote, "China has controlled the new crown pneumonia epidemic and taken effective measures until the infection rate is almost zero. We should learn from China!"

"The scene of tourists flocking to the Great Wall was unimaginable a few months ago," CNN said on the 7th. This "National Day" Golden Week is in sharp contrast to the anxiety during the last important travel season in China-the Spring Festival holiday at the end of January this year. At that time, the new coronavirus swept Wuhan. After that, China's transportation hubs were deserted; those who still needed to travel for business usually wore a full set of protective equipment, including plastic gloves, helmets, masks and goggles. And this Golden Week, because the spread of the epidemic in various parts of China was almost zero, people flocked to bus stations and airports to travel around China. Local governments also competed to issue travel vouchers to attract tourists. "I think China has controlled the virus very well," a 29-year-old woman who flew from Guangzhou to Shanghai for vacation last week told CNN, "I wear a mask and carry alcohol wipes with me, especially before meals - but in Shanghai, few people wear masks now."

"China can't wait for the successful development of the new crown vaccine and special medicine, and has suddenly entered the "post-new crown era", Japan's Moneypost website reported on the 7th that the National Day holiday has become a "detonator" for Chinese consumption. India's "ThePrint" website said on the 7th that hotel prices soared, taxi apps crashed, and tickets to the Great Wall were sold out - 9 months after the outbreak, almost 500 million Chinese people started their vacation to enjoy the National Day Golden Week. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the world - the global tourism industry is expected to lose at least $1.2 trillion in 2020 - highlighting the relative strength of China's economic recovery.

Wuhan, Lhasa, and Sanya are all highlights

According to a Japanese IT media business website on the 8th, half a year after Wuhan was "unsealed" on April 8, this year's National Day has a special meaning. Last year, 7 million Chinese traveled abroad during the National Day, and the most popular travel destination was Japan. This year, Chinese people traveled in China, driving the Chinese economy. There are several characteristics of Chinese tourism during this year's National Day. First, online reservations are the mainstream. Second, Wuhan has become a hot spot, and officials and citizens have jointly promoted travel to support Hubei Province. The number of visitors to 30 scenic spots in Hubei Province on October 1 and 2 was basically the same as last year, and tourism revenue recovered to 85.5% of last year. According to data released by Ctrip on the 8th, the Yellow Crane Tower ranked second in China in terms of online booking popularity, second only to Shanghai Disneyland. Third, cities bordering Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal and other countries, rich in nature and ethnic colors, are popular, and the number of accommodation reservations in Lhasa has increased six times compared with the same period last year.

Swiss SRF TV reported that unlike previous years when Hong Kong, Macao and Japan were the preferred travel destinations, this year Chinese people's travel is mainly concentrated in local attractions in China. Bars and restaurants in Shanghai are once again crowded and prosperous. The failure of Western countries to fight the epidemic has made China stronger and the Chinese people have more confidence in the country.

During the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, China received a total of 637 million Chinese tourists. Source: Xinhua Viewpoint

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said on the 7th that during this year's "October" Golden Week, queuing for shopping was a common scene at the Haitang Bay Duty Free Shopping Center in Sanya. As the new coronavirus continues to rage in most parts of the world, Chinese tourists who traditionally flocked to South Korea or Hong Kong for holiday shopping were attracted here this year. It turns out that after being closed for more than half a year, Sanya's white sand beaches and cheap shopping are more irresistible than ever. According to reports, in the first five days of the Golden Week, the transaction volume of duty-free goods in Hainan reached 530 million yuan. According to the owner of a local duty-free shop, mobile phones, wine and tablets are the most popular commodities, and high-end Swiss watches are also disappearing quickly from store shelves. One tourist even bought 300 Apple AirPods in Sanya.

Overall, it has not recovered to last year's level

"Chinese people's "retaliatory" travel consumption", "Deutsche Welle" said on the 8th that according to data from data analysis company ForwardKeys, the number of Chinese arrivals at Chinese airports has recovered to 86% of 2019, and the number of air ticket reservations has also recovered to 98% of last year's level. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China on the 8th, consumption in industries such as catering, entertainment, and fitness continued to rise during the Golden Week, and the box office exceeded 3.6 billion yuan in the first 7 days of the National Day holiday. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce, from October 1 to 8, the sales of key monitored enterprises in China's retail and catering were about 1.6 trillion yuan, and the average daily sales increased by 4.9% compared with last year's "October" Golden Week. According to the observation of the Global Times reporter in Beijing, it is common to wait for a table when dining out during the National Day holiday, and the price has risen significantly compared with last year. In addition, data from China UnionPay on the 8th showed that the transaction amount of the UnionPay network reached 2.16 trillion yuan in the 7 days before the National Day holiday, an increase of 6.3% over the same period last year; among them, the transaction amount of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival on October 1st exceeded 330 billion yuan, an increase of 15.5% year-on-year.

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao said on the 7th that there is no worry behind the beautiful data. In fact, there is still a distance for Chinese consumption to return to the normal state before the epidemic. Although the successful control of the epidemic has allowed people to travel with confidence, and the holiday consumption boom has also allowed the outside world to see the awakening market, the number of tourists in the first 4 days of the "Eleventh" was still only 78.4% of the same period last year, and tourism revenue only recovered to 68.9% of the same period last year, which actually did not meet the standard of "retaliatory consumption". Compared with industrial production and infrastructure investment, China's consumption has lagged behind under the impact of the epidemic. China's retail sales data did not record positive growth for the first time this year until August. To form the endogenous driving force required for the internal circulation, it is probably far from enough for consumption to simply rebound to the pre-epidemic level. The Neue Z¨¹rcher Zeitung in Switzerland said on the 8th that the Golden Week can show how far China's economic recovery has gone. China's GDP grew by 3.2% in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, but the recovery was mainly driven by investment and industrial production, and private consumption lagged behind. Private household consumption expenditures accounted for only 39% of China's GDP. The global average is 63%.

The Wall Street Journal said on the 8th that China's tourism revenue in the first half of the Golden Week this year fell 31% year-on-year. On the one hand, some social distancing measures are still in place, such as the upper limit of tourists at tourist attractions, but the average expenditure of tourists per trip has also fallen by 12%, indicating that consumers are still cautious. "It will take a longer process to fully return to normal levels, even in China."

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