Shopping malls, restaurants and sports venues in Beijing have remained packed with visitors during the ongoing National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, representing a microcosm of the strong consumer demand nationwide.

The Chinese capital's reputation as a major sports hub is playing a pivotal role in stimulating consumption in the city.

Since its Sept 25 opening, the World Table Tennis China Smash, which concluded on Sunday, sold more than 85,000 tickets, generating 87 million yuan ($12 million) in revenue, up 52.6 percent year-on-year.

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During the first three days of the holiday, cultural and sports-related consumption in Beijing's Shijingshan district reached nearly 200 million yuan. Shougang Park, which is located in the district and is home to the WTT events, drew 130,000 visitors on average daily, nearly double compared with last year, while sales of event-related cultural products surged 127 percent to 2.7 million yuan.

Meanwhile, the 2025 China Open tennis tournament hit new records between Sept 22 and Sunday. The number of visitors to the tournament's National Tennis Center venue in Chaoyang district totaled 360,000, up 20 percent year-on-year. It included 180,000 visitors from outside Beijing and nearly 10,000 from outside China.

The revenue from China Open ticket sales hit 88 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, while broader consumption — from food and beverage to merchandise — exceeded 36 million yuan, up 44 percent.

Licensed product sales topped 12.5 million yuan, with more than 80,000 yuan worth of a co-branded toy series — Wakuku — selling within the first hour of launch.

Christina Wang, a Beijing resident, said she paid 1,160 yuan for two night-session tickets at the Diamond Court for China Open. "This is my third year in a row watching the tournament in Beijing," she added.

Zhang Qing, founder of Beijing-based sports marketing consultancy Key-Solution, said, "China is accelerating efforts to foster domestic demand and a consumption-driven economy, and the sports industry is becoming an increasingly important part of that picture."

Both the WTT China Smash and the China Open delivered double-digit growth compared with last year, with ticket sales remaining especially strong, he said.

"When spectators come to watch these events, they also spend on hotels, dining, transportation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment," Zhang said.

"The timing during the National Day holiday, or Golden Week, gave people more reasons to travel. In this sense, spectator sports add real weight to building tourism destinations — they make the idea of 'traveling with events' a reality," he said, adding that sports will continue to play a greater role in China's consumption growth.

According to the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, from Wednesday to Saturday, sales revenue at enterprises in key monitored sectors, including department stores, supermarkets, speciality stores, catering and e-commerce, rose 0.4 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, more than 500 consumption promotion activities have been launched in the city, integrating culture, tourism, commerce and sports. Beijing Daily reported that foot traffic across 60 major business areas increased 14.3 percent from Wednesday to Saturday compared with the same period last year.

The catering sector has emerged as a bright spot, with sales at time-honored restaurants and fast-food chains increasing 4.8 percent year-on-year. The Beijing Cuisine Association partnered with delivery platform Meituan to launch check-in activities around traditional Beijing food culture.

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The holiday period is also seeing a sharp rise in cultural spending. The city is hosting 364 commercial performances with 2,102 shows, attracting strong demand. As of Saturday noon, box-office receipts reached 30 million yuan, according to movie data tracker Beacon.

Beijing's tourism spending has highlighted broader travel dynamics across the country.

Data from Tongcheng Travel and Baidu Maps showed that self-driving trips surged on Wednesday, with congestion levels climbing on highways in several provinces.

In addition to Beijing, other popular tourist destinations during the first three days of the holiday included Shanghai, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, and Xi'an in Shaanxi province.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn