(ECNS) -- The Lantern Festival, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, falls on Feb. 24 this year.

For Chinese people, eating yuanxiao or tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), enjoying lantern displays, and making nocturnal visits are traditional activities during the festival.

The diverse array of activities drive a surge in consumption, showcasing the vitality and creativity of the Chinese consumer market.

Bustling Lantern Festival market reflects China's economic vigor

Eating yuanxiao or tangyuan is the highlight of the Lantern Festival for Chinese people, symbolizing reunion and harmony in the new year.

Both online and offline consumption of this snack continues to heat up.

Data from food delivery platform Meituan shows that the sales of "tangyuan" and "Yuanxiao" a week before the Lantern Festival increased by 62.7 percent compared with the same period last year, and the search volume of the two words on the platform increased by 425.6 percent.

Qiu Yunhe, manager of the Jinfang Snack, a time-honored shop in Dongcheng District of Beijing, expected that daily sales of yuanxiao of the shop on Feb. 23 would hit 40,000 kilograms.   

Besides the glutinous rice balls, dazzling lantern exhibitions in various places across China have ignited citizens' enthusiasm for "night tours" and stimulated ongoing consumer recovery.

In the Fuzi (Confucius) Temple scenic area in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, crowds of tourists gathered to enjoy the colorful "Qinhuai Lanterns."

Tourists visit the Fuzi (Confucius) Temple scenic spot in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Photo/China News Service)