Special forces by day, foot massage to relieve stress by night

This generation of young people unlocks new ways to travel in the city

Orders for leisure camping, mini KTVs, claw machine arcades and the like grew more than 300% year on year, while orders for pick-your-own farm stays, pet interaction experiences, and bars and teahouses doubled... Meituan data shows that during the May Day holiday, spending on all kinds of leisure and entertainment was in full swing. Behind these red-hot figures lies a new trend and new highlight in holiday leisure spending: the quiet rise of the "urban micro-vacation," with one-stop leisure experiences proving hugely popular.

"During the May Day holiday I couldn't get a train ticket to go out of town, so a friend and I had a 'micro-vacation' right on our doorstep." Wang Meng, a white-collar worker in Shanghai, planned a route of "CityWalk by day, CityDrink by night"; Zhao Ningning, a tourist visiting Xi'an, put on hanfu to take in the local scenery and food, and a foot massage parlor became her new way to unwind after walking 30,000 steps a day.

As urban leisure and entertainment offerings grow ever more diverse, constantly upgraded experiences are making vacations within the city a new possibility: checking into a bathhouse to eat, drink and play; gathering at a foot massage parlor to sing karaoke; going to a LiveHouse to see a favorite act perform... Today, more and more young people are willing to pay for one-stop experiences with great value for money.

From the bathhouses of Shenyang and the teahouses of Chengdu to the foot massage parlors of Changsha, the integrated development of urban leisure experiences, together with the city's food and scenery, has become an important part of mass leisure consumption. Meituan data shows that during the May Day holiday, orders for foot massage grew 50% year on year and orders for bathhouses grew 45% year on year, with Shenyang, Beijing, Changchun, Tianjin and Harbin ranking as the five hottest cities for bathhouses.

"Work is too stressful normally, so during the holiday I just want to lie flat and relax. These days bathhouses offer not only soaking and steam rooms but also buffets, esports, KTV, water parks and all sorts of other experiences, meeting the different needs of our whole family." In Beijing, a bathhouse with its own outdoor camping facilities has become a check-in spot for family consumers. In Shenyang, a bathhouse offering indoor river rafting has become a new holiday landmark for both local and out-of-town visitors.

In Changsha, the "city of feet," foot massage parlors line every street and alley, and competition there is as fierce as among the city's fiery Hunan restaurants; in Chongqing, some tourists, after walking 30,000 steps, queue for eight hours just to relax at Golden Impression; in Shanghai, 80% of the customers at one blind massage parlor are young people... This May Day holiday, "busy, busy, busy" was the shared sentiment of technicians at most foot massage parlors. The manager of a massage parlor in Luoyang said he never expected that on the last day of the holiday the shop would have no free slots without a reservation — "a level of bustle we've never seen before."

"I didn't expect such long lines even on a rainy day." In Changsha, the manager of Hao LiveHouse was also surprised by the surging queues. As night falls, the city's nightlife comes alive. Data shows that during the May Day holiday, nighttime entertainment orders nationwide grew more than 60% year on year, and about 30% of out-of-town consumers followed bar guides to experience the city's distinctive bars; new formats represented by LiveHouse have become a new consumer choice for young people, with Meituan orders growing 75% year on year during the May Day period.