The Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a traditional Chinese folk festival, has its origins in the worship of celestial phenomena. Since ancient times, this festival has been celebrated with folk customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, savoring the moon, eating moon cakes, having fun with wishing lanterns, etc., which have been handed down and still continue today.[i] The festival, popular among many ethnic groups in China, originated in ancient times, gained popularity during the Han Dynasty, gained a foothold in the early Tang Dynasty, and flourished after the Song Dynasty.[ii]
As a part of traditional Chinese culture, the festival has undergone various evolutions over thousands of years of heritage. The festival has become a valuable cultural heritage, with the full moon symbolising the reunion of people, expressing feelings of nostalgia for one’s hometown and loved ones, as well as a way to pray for a good harvest and happiness. Besides China, this festival is also popular in Japan, the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia.[iii]
There has been a significant increase in Chinese people’s spending during the Mid-Autumn Festival, with many sectors such as tourism and postal services recording considerable growth during the three-day holiday. The latest figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism show that domestic tourism destinations received around 107 million visits during the holiday, an increase of 6.3% compared to 2019 before the Covid-19 outbreak. The National Immigration Administration announced that border inspection offices on the mainland recorded around 5.25 million entries and exits for both Chinese and foreign individuals over the three-day holiday, marking an increase of 18.6% year-on-year. According to data from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the city recorded a sales volume of about 4.7 billion yuan during the holiday, including shopping malls, supermarkets, restaurants and online sales.[iv]
It is possible to say that the Mid-Autumn Festival played an important role in revitalising the country’s economy with domestic and international travels and the expenditures such as accommodation brought by these travels. Commercial districts and shopping centers became the consumption centers for families during the festival. Sales figures of department stores, supermarkets, catering services and e-commerce platforms monitored by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce reached 4.67 billion yuan during the festival, up 4.4 percent year-on-year.[v]
Song Ding, a research scholar from the China Development Institute, told the Global Times that the combination of night tours and Chinese culture creates a very impressive atmosphere, and that night tours can be deeply integrated with local characteristics, which will help boost vitality and the ‘night economy’. Industry veteran Liu Dingding also told the Global Times that the Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a celebration of tradition, but also serves as a catalyst for economic activity, particularly in the catering sector, highlighting the resilience and potential of China’s consumer market.[vi]
The celebrations were not limited to China. For instance, in Myanmar, students staged cultural performances such as poetry recitals, traditional music and quiz competitions to celebrate the festival at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Yangon. In Laos, the Chinese Cultural Centre and the Faculty of Literature of the National University of Laos (NUOL) hosted a poetry event. In New Zealand, the ‘Mid-Autumn Concert of Timeless Poetry’ as part of the three-day Auckland Moon Festival attracted around 700 people.[vii]Moreover, a folk music concert performed by artists from Guizhou Province in southwest China was held in Canberra, Australia, to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and cultural exchanges between the two countries.[viii]
The Mid-Autumn Festival not only symbolised the gathering of families under one roof and spending time together, but also the gathering of people from different regions associated with this festival led to a significant increase in consumption across the country. The increase in the economy occurred mostly in the evening hours. As the lunar landscape attracted great attention during this festival, night flights and night cruises became more popular among tourists and increased the ‘night economy’. Thus, in addition to the tangible effects of the revitalization of the consumer market on the Chinese economy, the influence of Chinese culture worldwide has increased and mutual cultural exchanges between foreign countries have been encouraged. Furthermore, the festival has also enhanced China’s development in the fields of culture and tourism, enabling investments to be made in these fields.
The Mid-Autumn Festival both contributed to the development of China’s consumer market by encouraging domestic consumption, and also enabled cultural integration into consumption through leisure tourism. This has led to an acceleration in the growth of the Chinese economy through increased travel and consumption. By promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning between countries through cultural events, China has shown that countries can work towards more comprehensive exchange and cooperation, especially in cultural fields. In this context, it is possible to say that the rising holiday economy, increasing consumer market and high recorded expenditures have increased the role of consumption as the primary driver of economic growth.
China, which stands out with its economy today, not only achieves high export figures, but also makes cultural exports by opening and promoting such festivals to the world. Thus, with the Mid-Autumn Festival, both great income has been generated and other peoples have been introduced to Chinese culture. China has realized the ‘cultural economy’ by promoting the country as well as making serious economic gains by attracting tourists.
Author: Berra KIZILYAZI
[i] “中秋天节日”, tangyuan.gov.cn, http://tangyuan.gov.cn/web-festival/ui/mid-autumn, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).
[ii] “中秋节的起源”, wenming.cn, http://www.wenming.cn/wmdjr_299/zqj/qy/202309/t20230927_6677662.shtml, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).
[iii] “中秋节”, 百度百科, https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%AD%E7%A7%8B%E8%8A%82/128234?fr=ge_ala, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).
[iv] “Holiday splurge reveals strong spending power”, China Daily, https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202409/19/WS66eb8a61a3103711928a898a.html, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).
[v] “Mid-Autumn ‘reunion economy’ unleashes consumption potential”, Xinhua News, https://english.news.cn/20240919/b72218561742482d9c60fdabe1c922a4/c.html, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).
[vi] “Mid-autumn festival holidays further lift catering industry, boost Chinese economy”, Global Times, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202409/1319863.shtml, (Date Access: 21.09.2024).
[vii] “Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations held across the world”, Xinhua News, https://english.news.cn/20240917/72f3fbe6e6fa4dd2a7c9dc15c30d3829/c.html, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).
[viii] “Chinese folk music concert celebrates moon festival, cultural ties in Canberra”, Xinhua News, https://english.news.cn/20240917/62de6c26efdc4289a8af003d06d53866/c.html, (Date Access: 19.09.2024).