Beijing’s Mid‑Autumn Festival Sees Robust Upturn in Commercial Footfall and Retail Turnover

According to People’s Network Beijing, Beijing’s monitored retail firms delivered strong trading results across the recent Mid‑Autumn holiday period. Data compiled by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce showed that 127 key tracked enterprises recorded total sales of 4.04 billion yuan, marking a 20‑per‑cent year‑on‑year rise. E‑commerce channels registered a 26.4‑per‑cent increase, followed by supermarkets at 18.2 per cent, department stores at 14.9 per cent and catering outlets at 10.5 per cent.

Seventy major commercial districts across the city received 27.088 million visitors over the holiday, which represented a 14.7‑per‑cent year‑on‑year growth. A wide array of themed events were rolled out to stimulate onsite consumption. Trend‑focused experiential programmes at Xidan Joy City pushed visitor numbers for the Xidan‑Financial Street area 18.2 per cent higher year‑on‑year. Huaxi Live Wukesong hosted festive activities for the festival, while Solana deployed light shows and night‑time running events as new urban night‑time draws. The Wukesong business district saw visitor volumes climb 6.5 per cent, and the Yansha‑Solana area posted a 22.2‑per‑cent uplift. Longfu Temple hosted night‑market sessions featuring time‑honoured brand stalls, national‑style performances and intangible‑cultural‑heritage handicraft displays, drawing 115,000 attendees across the first two holiday days. The newly opened Shoukai LONG Street in Songzhuang put on nearly 200 separate events and attracted 134,000 visitors within the opening 48 hours.

Special food‑themed campaigns further lifted catering turnover. The Beijing International Food Gala – Global Cuisine Month combined traditional Mid‑Autumn elements to create immersive dining experiences. An international carbohydrate‑food festival at Olympic Park in Chaoyang pushed catering revenue within the Aoyao business zone 82 per cent higher year‑on‑year. The Fengtai Burger Festival at Huai Fang Wanda helped food sales in the Huaixin commercial district multiply 3.7‑fold. The first Chinese Food Festival at Wanli Wangfujing in Tongzhou built up an ancient‑style food‑and‑leisure scene. MixC Xisanqi assembled more than 70 matcha‑focused brands alongside sunset concerts and live performances, driving a 35‑per‑cent year‑on‑cent jump in turnover for the venue.

Cultural‑oriented happenings built up seasonal spending momentum. The “Lugou Bright Moon” Mid‑Autumn Cultural Festival in Fengtai arranged moon‑viewing sessions, opera shows and heritage‑themed street markets. Tongzhou held the Canal Fashion Gala with folk‑music performances and Chinese‑style runway shows. Municipal parks including Beihai, Jingshan and Taoranting opened festival‑themed programmes covering Hanfu gatherings, riddle‑guessing contests and heritage handicraft workshops. Spending on culture and entertainment rose by 16.6 per cent year‑on‑year, while ticket sales for tourist attractions grew 21.3 per cent.

Major sporting fixtures brought additional consumer traffic. The WBC Professional Boxing Championship and FIBA Intercontinental Cup were staged at the Green Heart Forest Park and National Indoor Stadium respectively. Sports‑related consumption in the Aoyao commercial zone rose 130 per cent year‑on‑year. The Huairou Great Wall Marathon drew 15,000 runners from home and abroad along a route linking Yanqi Lake and Mutianyu. Retail sales of department‑store goods in the surrounding Huairou New Town business district more than doubled.

Special exhibitions expanded the range of cultural consumption offerings. The National Museum of China and China Arts and Crafts Museum ran new exhibitions on ancient paintings and Xiuyan jade carvings. The 2026 “I Meet Ditan” Beijing Book Fair set up two satellite venues at Beijing Book Building and Wangfujing Bookstore to form a “Book Cross‑Street” zone. Eighty‑nine publishing labels and over ten curated exhibitions took part, with book‑reduction vouchers distributed through a mini‑programme to encourage purchases. Book‑related product sales went up 5 per cent compared with the same period a year before.