The Qixi Festival has arrived as scheduled, and the consumer market is heating up accordingly. Platform data shows a significant increase in searches related to "Qixi," with strong demand for cultural experiences such as nighttime cultural tourism and immersive exhibitions. Experts interviewed believe that the creative transformation of traditional festival culture and the deep integration of new consumption formats are becoming important levers for improving and expanding China's consumer market.

On the weekend before Qixi Festival, the "Garden Magpie Bridge Night" special night tour event at the Beijing Nanchizi Art Museum was a huge success. Reporters at the scene saw that the indoor exhibition area, "Starry Sky and Phenomena," which was arranged according to the ancient Chinese concepts of the Three Enclosures, Four Symbols, and Twenty-Eight Mansions, intertwined traditional astronomical wisdom with contemporary art; while in the outdoor courtyard, the lights reflected in the pond resembled stars falling on the water, transforming the entire garden into a celestial river on earth.

"After the lights came on, the reflections in the pond and the starry sky made it feel like stepping into an ancient dream of the Milky Way," exclaimed a woman dressed in Hanfu. The event attracted not only couples, but also groups of friends and families. A long queue formed at the fan rubbing workshop, where a mother with her child said, "Putting garden patterns onto the fan by hand is much more fun than simply browsing the exhibition." Staff explained that the art museum would also host a special performance, "Qiqiao Night: A Dance to a Beautiful Evening," on the evening of Qixi Festival, and judging from the reservations, the audience was very enthusiastic.

Many regions are delving into the cultural connotations of Qixi Festival and creating differentiated consumption scenarios. The Qixi Festival's Qiqiao (Seeking Skills) custom in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, is a national-level intangible cultural heritage representative project. This year, Tianhe District launched a seven-day Qiqiao Qixi Festival Intangible Cultural Heritage Carnival on August 14th. Ancient customs such as worshipping the "Seven Sisters" and threading needles for skill are integrated into urban public spaces through diverse forms including drama, markets, and light installations. Citizens can unlock exclusive discounts by logging into a mini-program with their benefit tickets, linking "customs, art, shopping, and leisure" together with their ticket stubs.

In addition, Nanjing launched "Ten Romantic Scenes," combining the ancient capital's cultural heritage with romantic landmarks; Suzhou's Pingmen Waterfront hosted a traditional Chinese-style group wedding, transforming traditional wedding customs into a cultural tourism experience package; in Sichuan's Suji Ancient Town, tourists picked up ancient-style needles and threads to recreate the elegant Qixi Festival custom in a timed challenge; and Shanghai's Fengxian District recreated the Song Dynasty's hairpin flower ceremony into an immersive market, attracting a large number of young people to participate... Various regions have deeply integrated the Qixi Festival IP with urban landmarks, intangible cultural heritage, and immersive experiences, transforming "cultural traffic" into tangible "consumption growth."

Du Jianfang, director of the research institute of the China International Electronic Commerce Center, believes that the rise in consumption during traditional festivals is not simply a matter of "festival promotions," but a long-term trend driven by cultural momentum, supply innovation, and the upgrading of consumption structure.

Du Jianfang believes that the driving effect of traditional culture on consumption is mainly reflected in three dimensions: First, emotional identification. Traditional festivals carry the unique emotional structure of Chinese people and can spontaneously activate the desire to consume without external "festival creation". Second, cultural identification. Young people understand tradition in new ways. Intangible cultural heritage, traditional Chinese style, and cultural and museum IPs have transformed traditional culture from "static display" into "purchaseable, experiential, and shareable" consumer content. At a deeper level, there is identification with consumption concepts. Consumers are increasingly willing to pay reasonable prices for quality, experience, cultural connotation, and emotional value, forming sustainable consumer stickiness.

It is this deepening of cultural identity and the upgrading of consumption demands that has led to an earlier and wider-reaching consumption boom during Qixi Festival, giving rise to more diverse consumption scenarios. Among these, "nighttime tourism" has become a mainstream way to celebrate the festival. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that on Qixi Festival, bookings for nighttime tickets to domestic scenic spots increased by more than 50% compared to weekdays, while bookings for nighttime tourism products such as nighttime cruises, light shows, and immersive performances increased by more than 40%. Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Wuhan were the top ten most popular cities for nighttime tourism during Qixi Festival.

The consumer base is also expanding. With Qixi Festival coinciding with the end of summer vacation, many families with children are taking advantage of the leisure time before the start of the school year to travel. The latest booking data from Tuniu shows that among users choosing to celebrate Qixi early on weekends, families with children account for over 60% of the trips. Meanwhile, senior citizens are also joining the "romantic economy." Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that since August, nearly 40% of bookings for group tours departing from the platform have been made by users aged 55 and above, an increase of about 6 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The proportion of senior tourists during Qixi Festival week reached its summer peak.

Beyond cultural experiences, the "minute-level" responsiveness of instant retail is reshaping the boundaries of holiday consumption. Experts interviewed pointed out that holiday consumption is becoming increasingly immediate, with many people placing orders only on the day itself, demanding stronger responsiveness from the supply side. Last year on Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day), Meituan's non-food instant retail orders reached a record high of 27 million. This year, the market generally expects the data to reach a new high.

Regarding how to address this change, Du Jianfang suggested that AI and big data are becoming important tools for improving the matching efficiency of the consumption chain—by integrating multi-dimensional data such as business district traffic, weather, and inventory, demand forecasting, inventory pre-positioning, and intelligent fulfillment can be achieved.

Du Jianfang stated that the true value of traditional festival consumption lies not in simply conducting online promotions, but in promoting the deep integration of online traffic with offline scenarios. With the empowerment of technology, platforms more effectively connect demand, business districts create experiences, stores provide goods and services, and logistics handles timely fulfillment. The combined efforts of all parties create a synergistic effect across the entire supply chain, from demand to supply to fulfillment, ultimately achieving a synergistic effect of "1+1>2" in consumption growth. (Source: Economic Information Daily)