ACGN fans fuel national day's tourism vigor

This year's eight-day holiday, celebrating China's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, has sparked a lively boom in domestic travel. Traditional tourism remains popular, with crowds filling natural and cultural sites, but a clear new trend has emerged: many young people are traveling mainly for anime and game exhibitions. They dress up as their favorite characters, spend money on their hobbies, gather with like-minded friends, and release their energy through socializing around what they love. Today, the number of fans in China's "Animation, Comic, Game, Novel" (ACGN) industry is growing and the industry continues to expand steadily. Anime and game exhibitions have brought fresh, vibrant energy to the holiday.

This National Day holiday, many anime and game exhibitions took place across the country, sparking a new wave of tourism. On October 2, the Asia Game Festival (AGF) and China International Comics Festival (CICF) opened at the Poly World Trade Expo Center (PWTC) in Guangzhou City. As China's largest comprehensive anime and game event, the joint CICF and AGF drew many tourists who traveled from different cities to visit. Long lines formed in front of booths selling badges and figures of popular IPs, while related products, such as published books, co-branded coffee, and photography gear, were also available. On the other side of the event, the new exhibition zone for independent games and the WeChat mini-game testing area offered dual benefits: they helped small- and medium-sized game teams connect with resources while also providing more interactive experiences for visitors. This event was not only a professional anime and game celebration but also a "booster" for Guangzhou's tourism consumption.

In east China's Shanghai, Wonder Festival 2025 (WF 2025) – the world's largest figure and model exhibition – has become a benchmark for attracting young tourists. This year's event reached new heights in size and popularity: more than 400 brand merchants and over 2,000 individual creators from around the world participated, showcasing over 100,000 figurines that drew model enthusiasts nationwide. Tickets for the first day sold out within 4 minutes, and more than 120,000 visits were made to the venue. Notably, the exhibition fostered creative exchange through the "same-day copyright system": individual creators could display and sell figurines related to open-copyright IPs during the event, greatly boosting their enthusiasm for creation and interaction.

In Beijing, the IJOY Beijing International Animation and Game Carnival/CGF Games Festival included "Welcome Home" directly in its promotional slogans. Tens of thousands of cosplayers gathered there to meet their idols, compete in dance contests, play games, and participate in multiple fan-based galas, where fans of the same anime, enthusiasts of certain costume styles, and lovers of anime music came together to communicate, share interests, and have fun.

In southwest China's Chengdu City, the World Line Anime Exhibition became a benchmark for Western China's anime events. On the first day alone, the expo saw 40,000 visits to the venue. In Wuhan, a transportation hub in Central China, the Dreamland Anime Exhibition attracted young people with 29 free themed photo studio sets. What's more, the event launched special tokusatsu (live-action films or TV shows that use practical effects) and fursuit (custom-made anthropomorphic animal costumes worn by cosplayers) sessions. What were once "niche hobbies" have turned into a collective celebration. Here, the exhibition connected young people for socializing. Through interest-based exchanges, people grew closer, adding warmth to National Day tourism.

Nowadays, anime and game exhibitions are no longer just "interest gatherings." They have become a major driver for local tourism, a hub for young people's social interactions, and a showcase for the vitality of China's ACGN industry. These interest-driven events across China are doing more than just vitalizing young people's holidays; they're providing lasting, trendy momentum for China's tourism and cultural industries.