A broad schedule of sporting competitions hosted across China throughout the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays is actively driving holiday tourism and stimulating consumer expenditure.
In northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, engines roared at the base of Helan Mountain on Thursday as more than 700 drivers and motorcyclists from across the country launched an off-road rally on the opening day of the seven-day National Day break. The seventh Helan Mountain Auto and Motorcycle Off-Road Race, which kicked off September 30 in Shizuishan City, spans an 80-kilometer circuit crossing the Gobi Desert and local canyons through October 6. The competition is among 23 major athletic events staged across Ningxia from mid-September through late October. To maximize the economic footprint, regional authorities in Ningxia—renowned for wine production—issued three million yuan ($447,000) in digital wine consumption vouchers and extended ticket-holder discounts across local scenic attractions.
Earlier during the holiday period, the 2026 Eastern Foothill of Helan Mountain Half Marathon in Yinchuan on September 26 attracted 5,500 competitors from over 10 provincial-level divisions along a course winding through commercial vineyards and wineries, followed by tasting events, vintage tram tours, culinary fairs, and open-air concerts. Municipal authorities are actively translating this sports traffic into longer stays; in Shizuishan, the transformed coal-mining town of Shitanjing, now an industrial heritage destination, recorded robust foot traffic. The previous edition of the off-road rally generated roughly 300,000 visits and approximately 15 million yuan in hospitality and retail turnover. This follows the inaugural Eastern Foothill of Helan Mountain Wine Cycling Open in late August, which brought together 1,815 cyclists representing 21 provincial divisions.
Parallel initiatives linking athletics with tourism spending are unfolding nationwide. In Anshan, Liaoning Province, a local municipal football league fixture drew 40,623 spectators on the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, with match tickets conferring free entry to heritage sites and complimentary transit passes. In Yuanling County, Hunan Province, the International Canoe Federation Dragon Boat World Cup (September 25–27) convened 24 squads from 16 countries and territories. In Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, over 50 sports fixtures are underway across both holidays, with an ILCA-class Asian Cup sailing regatta generating upwards of 13 million yuan in direct consumer transactions.
These efforts align with national directives: the Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched a cultural and travel campaign on September 22 deploying over 20,000 events and 310 million yuan in vouchers, while the General Administration of Sport is actively advancing its “Travel with Sports Events” program under the National Fitness Plan (2026–2030) to convert athletic attendance into sustainable consumer growth.
https://english.news.cn/20261001/a2a18502023e4ef39e17f66d4870f82e/c.html