According to the Shenzhen Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, during the 2025 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday period (October 1-8), Shenzhen welcomed a total of 9.2026 million visitors, representing a 12.4% increase compared to the 7-day National Day holiday in 2024. Foreign tourist arrivals reached 91,000, surging 145.2%, while total tourism revenue hit 8.94 billion yuan, up 17.6%.

While Shenzhen's holiday tourism figures still lag behind established first-tier tourism cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival period showcased a distinctive blend of traditional and emerging cultural tourism landmarks. Established attractions maintained their popularity while newly debuted cultural tourism destinations attracted substantial visitor traffic, bringing pleasant surprises to Shenzhen's cultural tourism market.

**New Tourism Landmarks Gain Popularity**

Where did the over 9 million visitors come from, and where did they go in Shenzhen? Data from Ctrip reveals that during this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Shenzhen's visitors primarily originated from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, and other cities. Popular attractions included Window of the World, Shenzhen Happy Valley, Shenzhen Safari Park, Bay Area Light Ferris Wheel, and Twenty-Four Histories Academy.

This indicates that traditional sightseeing attractions remain must-visit destinations for most tourists coming to Shenzhen. Additionally, several new cultural tourism landmarks made their debut just before this year's National Day holiday, including Bay Area Eye, Qianhai Ice and Snow World, and Sea World Minghua Wheel, which also became popular holiday destinations.

On October 1st, Shenzhen's original immersive physical theater production "Trading Life," China's first of its kind, premiered globally aboard the Minghua Wheel. The performance transformed the ship's seven decks into a 4,600-square-meter immersive space, with all National Day holiday shows completely sold out.

Bay Area Eye welcomed 126,000 visitors on its opening day during the holiday. During the double festival period, Qianhai Ice and Snow World expected to receive approximately 200,000 visitors, with the indoor ski resort accommodating 30,000 visitors, about 20% of whom were from Hong Kong.

Shenzhen's Bao'an District, home to these two major landmarks, emerged as a cultural tourism consumption winner. During the 2025 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, it received 1.8963 million visitors, up 22.23% year-over-year, including 572,600 overnight visitors. Total tourism revenue reached 1.658 billion yuan, increasing 22.81% year-over-year.

With both new and established landmarks working together, Shenzhen's appeal to domestic and international tourists has simultaneously strengthened. Didi Travel data shows that during this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Shenzhen ranked as the nation's top car rental and self-driving destination city, with Shanghai and Shenzhen being most popular among inbound users. According to the "Gaode Street View Rankings 2025 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Long Holiday Travel Consumption Report," Shenzhen ranked ninth nationally in the holiday attraction appeal city rankings.

**Shopping Districts Employ Creative Strategies to Attract Visitors**

Beyond tourism attractions, Shenzhen's major shopping districts employed various creative approaches to retain holiday consumers.

On September 30th, Shenzhen Bay MixC Phase II officially opened to welcome customers, featuring over a hundred flagship stores including Bambu Lab's first global direct flagship store and Honor's first global Alpha flagship store, becoming a "weapon" for attracting technology enthusiasts during the double holiday period.

From September 30th to October 8th, Bambu Lab's first global direct flagship store welcomed over 166,000 visitors for tours and experiences, averaging nearly 20,000 daily visitors.

Several kilometers away, K11 ECOAST incorporated intangible cultural heritage elements into the shopping district in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

During the double holiday period, K11 ECOAST Waterfront Cultural Arts District invited Bay Area folk artists to perform "Intangible Cultural Heritage Fish Lantern Parade" and created interactive scenarios for "night tours, night appreciation, and night entertainment." On the sea surface outside the waterfront promenade, illuminated paper art "Fishing Boats and Sea Moon" lit up the waters, while a Dutch soprano dressed in 17th-century European classical umbrella-shaped gowns performed classic opera arias from "Madame Butterfly" and sang "The Moon Represents My Heart" in Chinese, presenting the Greater Bay Area premiere of the Dutch national treasure environmental theater production "Floating Diva."

Yitian Holiday Plaza in Luohu District similarly hosted the 2025 Luohu Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, featuring alternating activities including intangible cultural heritage interactive parade, Mid-Autumn concerts, and ancient-style markets. During the heritage festival, Yitian Holiday Plaza welcomed over 400,000 total visitors.