As China continues to adapt to changing consumer preferences, this year's seven-day National Day holiday which ended on Monday has served as a testament to the resilience and dynamism of its economy, highlighting the importance of embracing new trends in the ever-evolving marketplace.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, major retail and catering enterprises saw sales increase by 4.5 percent year on year during the holiday period, with approximately 2.52 million consumers purchasing over 3.74 million units of eight major appliance categories -- refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air conditioners, computers, water heaters, kitchen stoves, and range hoods, generating sales of 17.84 billion yuan (2.53 billion U.S. dollars).
In addition, the online retail sales of physical goods rose by more than nine percent year on year, while the postal and express delivery sector handled over 6.28 billion parcels.
Service consumption, particularly in accommodation, dining, and leisure activities, also surged during the holiday, which was boosted by a range of new offerings. Spectacular drone shows lighted the night of cities to enhance the tourism experience while some tourist destinations resorted to the fusion of modern technology and traditional scenery to create unique consumer engagement opportunities during the holiday week.
Data from the State Taxation Administration showed that sales revenue for daily household appliances and audio-visual equipment doubled, while the cultural services market experienced an impressive 85.2 percent year-on-year increase, with digital cultural services nearly doubling, highlighting a new trend where consumers are increasingly prioritizing quality of life and spiritual needs.
Wang Wei, a researcher at the market research institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, noted that this holiday was characterized by new consumption trends.
"This year's National Day holiday consumption highlighted a key theme of 'new,' as new brands and services sparked fresh demand. This trend is beneficial for boosting consumer confidence and promoting a stable and positive consumption market," she said.
China's National Day holiday characterized by new consumption trends
Artists have reimagined ancient themes through a modern lens at the 60th Venice Biennale China National Pavilion Exhibition, now underway in Shanghai.
The main feature of the exhibition is a fully immersive project by artist Che Jianquan, who has placed consecutive screens placed side by side to present his two-decade-long documentation of the same pavilion since 2003.
Through his lens, the artist captures the pavilion, as it emerges and disappears amidst mist and clouds, evoking the aesthetic of misty landscapes in traditional Chinese ink paintings.
"At the beginning, I wanted to use painting to document my feeling, but later I realized that painting was somewhat powerless. So, starting in 2003, I began using the earliest video equipment to start recording. What I care about more is a place—a very small location—and the unique connection it has within that field to history and to the culture of that region. I think this is something I hope to achieve: through a seemingly ordinary scene, to uncover the stories behind it, as well as its possible influence on both the past era and the present," said Chen.
Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is one of the premier events in the global art world. This year, the China National Pavilion Exhibition, under the theme "Atlas: Harmony in Diversity," presents not only the documentary archives of 100 Chinese paintings held overseas, but also seven contemporary artworks created by seven Chinese artists exploring themes, such as architecture, landscapes, figures, flora and fauna.
"The core of the Venice Biennale is contemporary art, reflecting the spirit of the present era—yet the present and history cannot be separated. This exhibition is rooted in the tradition of Chinese painting across dynasties, drawing from over 20,000 individual works that took us twenty years to collect globally," said Wang Xiaosong, an artist and the curator of the exhibition.
"Notably, we discovered that more than 3,000 of these paintings had been lost overseas, which we spent two decades retrieving through digital tools. This is how we engage with traditional art: through each artist's reflection and a new understanding of the relationship between the ancients, the present, and the future," he added.
Wang drew special attention to a piece by the modern artist Qiu Zhenzhong, who he said merges the art of Chinese gardens with calligraphy using traditional methods to showcase contemporary issues such as environmental and ecological change.
"It's like a dialogue with nature," Wang said.
The exhibition in Shanghai is the final stop of the national tour, following the legs in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, and will run until May 31.
Exhibition in Shanghai bridges contemporary art with centuries of Chinese artistic tradition
