China’s hotels are welcoming record numbers of travelers, yet room rates are sinking — aparadox many operators blame on Trip.com Group Ltd.

As 2026 begins, China’s consumer mood has shifted from “recovery” to “routine” — but decisions are more selective, more content-led, and more trust-dependent. Outbound travel has normalised in volume, yet booking windows remain late and compressed, making “build preference early, convert fast” the winning play. Social platforms (especially Xiaohongshu and Douyin) are no longer just inspiration layers but direct conversion levers, while credibility and human reassurance still

On a recent train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, half the carriage was occupied by travelers from China. The group, made up of all ages, was on its way to Russia’s imperial capital as part of an organised Chinese tour group, one of the first since Moscow opened its doors to Chinese nationals without requiring a visa last month.

For most of 2025, global travel retail kept circling around the same question: “Is China back to 2019 levels?” It sounds like strategy. It’s really nostalgia. Yes, volumes recovered, seats were filled. terminals got noisy again. On many dashboards, the story looked reassuring: traffic lines mostly pointing up, Chinese share of passenger mix climbing, familiar nationalities returning to familiar hubs. But if 2019 is still your reference point, you’ve already missed the

China’s interest-led e-commerce spend exceeded RMB 385.2BN in 2025 Q1–Q3. Discover the four growth clusters—Sport & Health, Entertainment & Collecting, Creation & Art, and Lifestyle & Food—and what they signal for brand strategy, product innovation, and content-led conversion.

China’s silver economy is projected to surge from RMB 7.1TN (2023) to ~RMB 30TN by 2035. Explore the fastest-growing categories — smart eldercare, age-friendly home upgrades, senior mobility, and wellbeing — plus the go-to-market playbook brands need to win older consumers in China.

This week’s conversations across China’s major platforms spotlight Lunar New Year mobility and rail-service upgrades, “limited-edition” collectibles frenzy, export-growth narratives, cold-wave and travel-disruption risks, and visa-free policy tailwinds across Southeast Asia. Below is an SEO-friendly roundup from Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Baidu and Zhihu, with one-line insights and embedded links for quick reading.

China’s Zhongnv (women aged 35 years and above) are emerging as a defining force in consumption, driven by health priorities, emotional value, and long term household decision making. Drawing on a May 2025 survey of 1,000 women, this newsletter explores how mature women are reshaping categories from wellness and FemTech to light medical beauty, education, travel, and financial planning, and what brands must do to earn trust, relevance, and repeat choice.

South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand are projected to be the three most popular destinations for Chinese tourists in 2026. Meanwhile, the number of these tourists to Japan is at risk of declining by nearly 50%.