Returning home for the New Year, I was shocked by the consumption of a small county

 author| Blue Shark Consumption Chen Shifeng 

At 10 p.m. on the last day of the Spring Festival holiday (February 4), a theater hall in a third-tier city in Henan was still bustling with people.

In Xinyang, Henan, some netizens published that a shopping mall had renovated the movie theater in advance due to the release of “Nezha 2”, although other areas of the mall were still in rough shape. Netizens joked: Everywhere is rough! Only the movie theater was renovated in advance.& rdquo;

“I never expected that this year’s Spring Festival would be so popular. Movie ticket prices in our county would be higher than first-tier cities, and even exceed the national average ticket price. rdquo; A drifter in the north couldn’t help but vomit.

On social platforms, many netizens posted movie ticket prices in their 18th tier counties. The ticket prices in some counties even exceeded 100 yuan, far exceeding those in first-tier cities. During the Chinese New Year visit to relatives in a third-tier city in Henan, Blue Shark consumer reporter discovered that middle school students in their teens were broadcasting the pirated “Nezha 2” on TV. The reason was also because the ticket price was too expensive. rdquo;

Integrating with the lifestyle of big cities has become a necessity for young people in small towns. Under the stimulation of just needed needs, consumption in the sinking market seems to have ushered in spring.

Well-known brands capture the county

During this year’s Spring Festival, many catering brands have slogans that the Spring Festival is closed. Urban elites returning from first-tier and second-tier cities suddenly discovered that their hometown after a year of separation seemed to be closing the gap with the High-Line cities.

A Beipiao returned to a county in Hebei where he was born and found that many well-known brand tea shops were opened on a prosperous commercial street. Xi tea, Bawang tea girls, etc. gathered together, and consumers were also competing to queue up.

At the same time, snack brands with local characteristics have also attracted many people to stop and buy. At the entrance of a well-known local bakery store, people lined up early, waiting for freshly baked food to be baked. Almost as soon as it was baked, it was immediately snatched away. rdquo;

The younger generation of consumers seems to have no interest in money. According to a Beifang man, he bought a 400-yuan sportswear for his nephew in his hometown. When he got home, his nephew immediately turned out 4 pieces of grandfather Mao and gave them back to him. It seemed like taking out 4 pieces of white paper. In the era of mobile payment, people are losing interest in paper money, and even issuing red envelopes has become transfers, which has also stimulated more consumption to a certain extent.

Today’s younger generation is born in an era of great material wealth, and they seem to care less about their future financial future. According to a post-00s born in a third-tier city in Henan, his hometown has long been demolished and three apartments have been allocated according to the policy. However, he is the only one in this generation and does not need to worry about the house at all. Most of the money he earns is spent on catering, entertainment and other consumption.

In a newly built shopping mall in a university town in Henan Province, although college students have already had a holiday, it is crowded with nearby people who come to eat and play. On the fourth floor of the mall, many catering brands gather here, including well-known brands such as Fish Together and Half Day Demon. Most of the people who come to eat are young people, and many stores need to queue up to make reservations.

According to official data released by major new tea brands, the consumption situation in stores in third-and fourth-tier cities is extremely hot. For example, sales of Naixue’s tea in Puning, Taizhou, Danzhou and other cities have increased significantly. Among them, Naixue Puning Wantaihui Store has performed particularly well. During the Spring Festival, it sold nearly 2000 cups of tea in a single day, reflecting the county’s economy. Unlimited potential. Affected by the trend of returning home, Bawang Tea Lady has experienced a considerable increase in consumption in third-and fourth-tier cities. Among them, the average daily sales volume of many stores in Jieyang, Guangdong exceeds 3000 cups.

Guming, which is about to go public, is also because it has captured the consumer dividend of the sinking market. According to its prospectus, as of September 30, 2024, the number of Guming stores has reached 9778, of which 80% are located in second-tier cities and below, and township stores account for as much as 40%.

New energy vehicles are becoming popular in rural areas

During the Spring Festival of 2025, walking on the streets of a small third-tier county in Hebei Province, new energy vehicles with green license plates can be seen everywhere. A Beidrift told Blue Shark Consumption that this year, he suddenly discovered that the booth of new energy vehicles had entered the most prosperous shopping mall in our local area, including many well-known brands. rdquo;

In a new energy vehicle 4S shop in a third-tier city in Henan, there is an endless stream of customers coming to see the car. According to sales personnel, sales of new energy vehicles in the county will increase by 80% year-on-year in 2024, and models with around 100,000 yuan are the most popular. Blue Shark’s consumer editor raided a BYD Dolphin before the Spring Festival from his friends in Henan. He calculated this: the charging cost of new energy vehicles is only one-third of that of fuel vehicles, saving nearly 10,000 yuan a year.

The most important thing is that compared with large first-tier and second-tier cities, county and township residents have more relaxed conditions for charging new energy vehicles. They only need to pull a cord in their yards. Sales data for 2024 also seems to confirm this point: According to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the national sales of new energy vehicles will exceed 10 million in 2024, of which the proportion of third-and fourth-tier cities will reach 40%, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2023.

Supermarket chains are fierce”

The popularity of new energy vehicles has not only changed people’s travel methods, but also changed people’s lifestyles, such as daily shopping.

Before the Spring Festival, 67-year-old Aunt Wang was purchasing food at a newly opened large-scale supermarket in the town. Last year, she frequented open-air markets most frequently, and most of the necessary ingredients such as pork were purchased from these acquaintances. The reason for the change is simple: for the same pork, a large supermarket is a full yuan cheaper per catty than a roadside pork stall. rdquo; More importantly, you can collect all kinds of items, even imported food, with a drive to the supermarket.

During the Spring Festival, Henan’s local retail giant Pang Donglai once again ushered in a consumption boom. The latest data shows that during the Spring Festival holiday, the total daily passenger flow of stores in Pangdonglai Xuchang area was the same as that of the same period last year, with total sales exceeding 100 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 20%. After a five-day holiday, on the day when Pangdonglai opened for business on the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, the passenger flow of supermarkets surged, and various stores continued to restrict current. Stores such as Times Square and Angel City queued for more than three hours during peak hours.

To this end, Pangdonglai Trading Group issued an announcement advising customers to travel off-peak times. Some consumers said that they came to the queue at 5 a.m. just to snap up the freshly made stewed meat and fresh fruits and vegetables made by Pangdonglai’s signature.” rdquo;

Chain stores are extremely popular, which also occupies the living space of traditional commissaries to a certain extent. According to data from a central county, the sales of supermarket chains in the county will increase by 25% year-on-year in 2024, while the number of traditional commissaries will decrease by 18%. It is worth noting that supermarket online orders account for 35%, and the proportion of online shopping by users over 50 years old jumped from 5% to 22%.

The cold chain advantages and centralized procurement advantages of supermarket chains have emerged, and the proportion of fresh food sales has increased from 12% to 28%, directly impacting the survival model of soy sauce noodles in the canteen.

In the past year, chain supermarkets, which were originally high-tech, have also attacked and sunk the market. According to Interface News, among the 72 newly opened stores in Hema in 2024, in addition to encrypting the number of stores in core cities, they are also expanding into more sinking cities such as Tongxiang, Jiaxing, Dongying and Weifang, Shandong, Weinan, Shaanxi, and Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. Officials revealed that in 2024, Hema achieved double-digit growth based on nine consecutive months of overall profit, and the number of customers increased by more than 50%.

As early as 2023, Sam began to sink, including signing stores in Lixia, Jinan, Jiaxing Economic Development, Shaoxing Yuecheng, Wenzhou Lucheng, Jinjiang Chidian, Dongguan Liaobu and other areas. Jinjiang is the second China county-level city that Sam entered after Kunshan.

According to the list of “2024 Research on the High-Quality Development of China County Economy” released by CCID Consulting under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong are the largest clusters of county economies in China, and many prosperous counties and towns have emerged in economically developed regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Fujian.

In these super counties, the living standards of some people can even be comparable to those of first-tier cities. For example, the per capita GDP of Kunshan City (county-level city) in Jiangsu Province even exceeds that of first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. These super counties have become the targets of competition for Box Horse and Sam.

“Intangible cultural heritage favors ancient cities

With the arrival of the first Intangible Cultural Heritage Spring Festival, young people born in the 2000s have grown in ancient cities and old streets across the country. Compared with big cities, small counties contain authentic New Year flavor. Meituan travel data shows that the top 10 popular counties for Spring Festival tourism consumption are: Yangshuo County, Guilin, Luanchuan County, Luoyang, Changxing County, Huidong County, Huizhou, Wuyuan County, Shangrao, Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo, Yichuan County, Luoyang, Deqing County, Zhaoqing, Fuzhou Pingtan County, Nan’ao County, Shantou.

More and more destinations in She County, Anhui Province, Iron Flower in Wunu Island, Jiangxi Province, Hairflower Wai in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, Chaozhou Yingsong and Dance in Guangdong, and Yan ‘an and Northern Shaanxi storytelling in Shaanxi Province attract tourists through intangible cultural heritage activities, allowing people to experience the local Spring Festival folk culture up close.

Young people born in the 2000s walk into the county to watch intangible cultural heritage performances and taste local specialty intangible cultural heritage snacks. They move from popular ice and snow tourism destinations to the deeper Daxing’anling Prefecture, launching in-depth tourism and effectively boosting the county’s cultural tourism economy. Meituan travel data shows that during the Spring Festival of 2025, searches for the ancient city of Chaozhou in Guangdong increased by 921% year-on-year, and searches for the ancient city of Langya in Shandong increased by 681% year-on-year. The ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi, the ancient city of Taierzhuang in Shandong, the ancient city of Fenghuang in Hunan, the ancient city of Luoyi in Henan, the ancient city of Dali in Yunnan, the ancient city of Huizhou in Anhui, the ancient city of Langzhong in Sichuan, and the ancient city of Zhangzhou in Fujian have also become popular ancient cities during the Spring Festival.

A Mr. Li who returned to Luoyang for the New Year said that in the Laocheng District of Luoyang, tourists dressed in traditional costumes can often be seen moving around to change scenery and watch performances. He recalled that on both sides of the entrance of Luoyi Ancient City Scenic Area near his home, which was originally a well-known auto parts street, has now become a Hanfu street. Here, Hanfu leasing, makeup customization and follow-up photography have formed an industry.

The popularity of intangible cultural heritage tourism in the ancient city has also driven many well-known consumer brands to sink deeply into the market. Official data from Bawang Tea Lady shows that sales in scenic spots such as Pingyao Ancient City, Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, Yiwu Fotang Ancient Town, and Zhenjiang Runzhou Xijindu increased by 300% month-on-month.

In terms of tea baidao, county stores and scenic spots stores such as Kaifeng Wanshishan Store, Handan Ci County Fangte Park Store, Huzhou Taihu Ancient Town Second Store have become the stores with the largest growth rates among tea baidao stores in the country, with sales growth generally exceeding 400%, of which Kaifeng Wanshishan Store sales increased by 3500%.

When the standardized services of chain brands encounter consumption with regional characteristics, the sinking market is writing a unique upgrade script. From movie consumption to new energy vehicles, from large shopping malls to supermarket chains, every scene tells the story of changes and innovations in the sinking market.