Street-stall economy unleashed new economic vitality, there were a dazzling array of promotional activities online and offline, and agricultural specialty products sold very well. In the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, we found that business districts in Meizhou had to cope with soaring numbers of visitors and the hustle and bustle on streets and alleys emerged stronger, in a sign of the remarkable wave of consumption boosted by the holiday.

Shopping malls were packed with people and shoppers attracted customers ingenious ways. Shopping malls were among popular destinations for citizens in the three-day holiday due to the broadly blistering weather. A continuous stream of citizens came to such commercial complexes as Keduhui and Wanda for strolling or shopping. Some sellers exerted themselves to the utmost to attract potential customers, for example by handing out consumption vouches and giving presents when the amount of consumption surpasses a certain level. “The Dragon Boat Festival holiday saw a daily average of close to 5,000 transactions, double the usual levels.” According to Liao Zhouquan, customer service manager in RT-Mart Keduhui Store, to attract more customers, the super market combined the “618” shopping festival with the Dragon Boat Festival and rolled out special offers on both online and offline channels, such as “RMB30 discount for RMB60 worth of ice cream”, “RMB100 discount for RMB199 worth of laundry detergent and “50% discount for more than 3,000 commodities in the store”, covering all offering categories.

In the last day of the holiday, a number of citizens bought souvenirs with Hakaa characteristics including salt baked food and Hakka Mother Wine (Hakka Rice Wine). Sales in Hakaa specialty shops soared on June 24. We saw Shangji Food Store filled up with freshly made food including salt baked chicken, salt baked and original flavour chicken wing, duck feet with spicy sauce and meatballs as well as such special products such as Hakka Mother Wine. Sale-clerks were busy recommending products to customers or packing food in vacuum. According to Deng Lifang, general manager of Meizhou Shangji Food Co., Ltd., the store saw a massive number of orders prior to the holiday. After buying local food products, most customers asked the store to courier the products to their relatives and friends in other places. In such a way, their relatives and friends could taste fresh and delicious Hakaa specialties in the holiday.

　　(Lin Wanping and Jiang Chan)