Payment data reveals rebound in spending
Happy Year of the Dragon.
The Chinese New Year holiday in Shanghai saw a remarkable rebound in consumption as various leisure activities appealed to local residents as well as overseas visitors.
According to UnionPay's payment data, the total consumption of inbound visitors from February 9 to February 16 jumped 21.6 percent from a year ago to 15.5 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) and the number of payments reached 144.5 million times, a 41.8 percent surge from a year ago.
The Shanghai Commerce Commission said that visitors from Jiangsu Province make up one fifth of the total tourism spending, followed by Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shandong and Anhui provinces.
Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall, Yuyuan Garden and the Shanghai Disney Resort have been the top destinations for tourists, with the number of out-of-town visitors making up 60 percent of total foot traffic at these destinations.
The Yuyuan Garden recorded 343,000 visits, up 11.4 percent from a year ago. Xuhui District recorded 22 percent increase in foot traffic with total number of visits exceeding 2 million.
The city's total dining expenditure jumped 16.3 percent to 5.93 billion yuan.
The bustling culinary scene on Huanghe Road continues as fervent followers of the TV series "Blossoms Shanghai" flocked to try Shanghai-style dishes.
Total offline and online consumption stood at 56.9 billion yuan, and about 28.7 million visits were recorded at 35 iconic business areas such as the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall, Xujiahui, Hopson One Shopping Mall, Huaihai Road, rising 11.9 percent from the previous year, the commission said.
Spectacular fireworks
Shanghai's dining spending also topped other cities around the country, with the number of orders increasing 150 percent from a year ago, according to Meituan's restaurant tracking data.
The average amount of lifestyle consumption in Shanghai was up 105 percent from 2019 levels, with city's residents embracing a wide range of leisure activities including theme park tours, movie-going and karaoke.
The Shanghai Museum proved its strong appeal for visitors with the sales of cultural derivatives jumping 340 percent from a month ago, according to Alipay.
The average amount of spending from overseas customers at the Yuyuan Garden also jumped 250 percent.
Thanks to convenient ways of payment, foreign customers also enjoyed the festive mood at local diners.
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