- Gordon Dumoulin
Some remarkable numbers of a special Chinese New Year
Some remarkable numbers of the unusual Chinese New Year’s holidays last week. Instead of the annual largest human migration with 100’s of millions of people going home to their families during Chinese New Year, this year was different.
Authorities advised people to stay where they were due to the risk of COVID outbreaks with policies aimed at discouraging travel. “Stay put during Spring Festival” (就地过年) became one of the most trending terms. Some numbers on this unique Spring Festival ;
1) Travel was down by over 75% (traffic by rail, road, air compared to 2019)
2) Courier deliveries surged 260% (660 million packages).
Food, local specialties and gifts between family members and friends were favorite with social media trends showing pictures of gifts and homegrown foods.
3) Staycation became the new vacation.
Local tourist attractions and activities in big cities boosting 300%, usually quite deserted during Chinese New Year.
4) Digital Hongbao (digital red envelope gifts) up 270%.
5) “Meal for one” take out deliveries doubled during the holidays.
6) The box office during holidays broke the 8 billion RMB (around 1.2 billion USD). About 80-100 million people went to the cinema.
A different New Year in 2021
Source : more to read : https://radiichina.com/lunar-new-year-2021/