The Dragon Boat Festival, which fell on June 22 this year, has injected vitality into the consumer market in China, with sales of festival-related products rising and people's willingness to travel improving.  

Domestic trips hit 106 million during the three-day holiday, surpassing the same period in 2019, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Out of all modes of commercial transportation, a total of 43.3 million passenger trips were made by railway, surpassing 38.4 million passenger trips in 2019. The highway carried 89.3 million passenger trips, and the aviation trips reached 5.3 million passenger trips during the three-day holiday, according to China's Ministry of Transport.

Nanjing, Xi'an and Chengdu were named the top three most popular destinations on the Chinese mainland during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival this year, according to a report released by online travel agency Ctrip. Tourism revenue reached 37.3 billion yuan (about $5.2 billion) during the holiday, which lasts from Thursday to Saturday, up 44.5 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Sales of zongzi, a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves that Chinese people eat during the Dragon Boat Festival, increased by over 70 percent in the week before the Dragon Boat Festival.

The festival economy has fueled consumption. With summer vacation approaching, consumer demand for leisure, shopping and tourism will be further eased, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The Chinese consumer market is expected to achieve steady growth in the second quarter of this year.

Data editor: Zhao Hong, Yao Nian, Sun Yiwen

Graphics designer: Mukesh Mohanan