“The weather in Shenzhen has been pleasant lately, perfect for outdoor activities. I just bought a folding bike and plan to go cycling in the eastern part early on New Year’s Day to welcome the new year with full energy.” At around 7 p.m. last night, Decathlon’s UpperHills store was bustling with crowds. Mr. Xiong, a local resident, was choosing a range of cycling gear such as shoes and helmets with the assistance of store staff.
As the 2026 New Year’s Day approaches, many citizens have made early plans for the year-end holiday, including dinners, trips, exhibitions, cycling and more. These activities have collectively driven Shenzhen’s consumer market into the “New Year countdown mode”. Reporters visited several key business districts in Shenzhen yesterday and learned that major merchants are seizing the consumption opportunities brought by New Year’s Day, launching exciting consumption promotion activities, optimizing consumption supply, creating new consumption scenarios, continuously stimulating consumption vitality, and propelling the city’s New Year consumption to thrive with fresh momentum.
New Flagship Stores Debut, Making Consumption Formats More Trendy
Last week, the country’s first “CCTV Spring Festival Gala Season” themed pop-up store settled at Gangxia North Metro Station, known as the “Eye of Shenzhen”, bringing the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival Gala right into the metro station and gaining immense popularity.
Reporters on-site yesterday saw a giant carousel art installation themed around the four mascots of “Qiji Chicheng (Steeds Galloping Forward)”, which instantly filled the space with a festive vibe. A collection of CCTV Cultural and Creative Spring Festival gifts and Year of the Horse limited-edition derivatives were unveiled, including exquisite porcelain items such as “Spring Bowls” and “Spring Plates”, as well as adorable mascot merchandise. “You can enjoy visiting the exhibition, taking photos, and buying souvenirs all in one stop here,” said Ms. Zhang, who works nearby. She came to check in with her colleagues during lunch break and bought several Year of the Horse mascots as gifts for friends.
Recently, a number of first-in-city stores and specialty stores have opened their doors in Shenzhen. From the INNO100 Global Innovation Flagship Store and the world’s first humanoid robot-themed trendy store, to themed pop-up stores and China’s largest Xianyu Second-hand Cycle Store, these new additions have made Shenzhen’s consumption formats more diverse and trendy.
According to interviews, as 2026 draws near, more brand flagship stores and specialty stores will debut in Shenzhen, bringing fresh ideas to New Year consumption and making the city a more attractive destination for shopping and leisure.
On December 30, the Pink Street at MixC Shenzhen Bay will officially open. As China’s first art museum-level commercial themed block, it gathers nearly 40 first-in-city stores and flagship stores, exploring diverse lifestyle scenarios through the in-depth integration of artistic settings and high-quality business formats. Among them, the “Shenzhen McDonald’s Art Museum”, inspired by futurist aesthetics and featuring soft pastel colors as its main tone, will open on January 1 next year. This unique “art museum” created by McDonald’s integrates art with daily life, and technology with warmth, offering consumers an immersive new consumption experience.
Scenario Innovation, Making Themed Consumption More Popular
“Shenzhen’s version of ‘Milan Town’ is so beautiful that it captures my heart completely. Every photo taken here has a storytelling vibe, and the rate of getting great shots is extremely high—nine photos aren’t enough to fill my WeChat Moments.” Last weekend, after having dinner with her best friend in Huaqiangbei, Aling, who lives in Futian District, headed straight to the “Holiday 70 Frames” themed block at AVIC City Kingsun Shopping Center to take photos. She told reporters that she saw this themed block on social media and specially invited her friends to come and check in. “The experience is fantastic—after taking photos, we can wander around the mall, have afternoon tea, and enjoy the sunshine. It’s such a cozy and relaxing time.”
In Shenzhen, themed new consumption scenarios in major key business districts have become a powerful tool to attract customers at the end of the year. As the New Year’s Day holiday approaches, Shenzhen’s version of “Milan Town”, chocolate markets, light and shadow art seasons, and the South China premiere of the “Prosperity in the Year of the Horse” exhibition have been launched one after another, bringing more novel and interesting consumption experiences to citizens.
As early as November, Shenzhen launched the New Year Consumption Season themed “Consumption Lights Up a Better Life”. This four-month-long consumption promotion campaign leverages Shenzhen’s unique warm winter advantage, integrates high-quality cultural and tourism resources across the city, carefully designs premium cultural and tourism routes, and creates a consumption experience featuring “themed activities every month, events every week, and surprises every day”. Over 567 themed activities cover various sectors including sports consumption, AI and low-altitude economy, first-launch economy, international consumption, catering and accommodation, digital consumption, trade-in programs, trendy domestic products, tax-free and tax-refund services, service consumption, and warm winter cultural and tourism activities.
With 2026 just around the corner, Shenzhen’s New Year Consumption Season will enter the “January Domestic Products Upgrade & Spring Festival Shopping Month”. More themed consumption scenarios such as the 2nd Shenzhen Han-Tang Cultural and Tourism Carnival, the “Horse + God of Wealth IP Theme Exhibition”, and the KKTIME “Happy Landing” Theme Exhibition will be launched successively, continuously injecting new vitality into Shenzhen’s consumer market.
Booming Supply and Demand, Showcasing Vibrant New Year Consumption
“We’ve received quite a few corporate group building bookings recently—there will be a team building event for over 200 people on December 30. On New Year’s Day 2026, most reservations are for family dinners; many families choose to have hot pot together to kick off a vibrant new year.” The newly opened Haidilao Banquet Restaurant in Shenzhen has become a popular choice for citizens’ year-end gatherings. Ms. Jiao, the restaurant manager, said that as the temperature drops in Shenzhen, hot pot consumption has entered its winter peak season. Coupled with multiple festive occasions such as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the demand for year-end dinners has been continuously rising. Recently, the restaurant has received a steady stream of inquiries and reservations for corporate team building events and family dinners.
The bustling atmosphere is not limited to the catering industry—major supermarkets and shopping malls in Shenzhen are also thriving. Reporters learned from interviews yesterday that leading supermarket chains including China Resources Vanguard, Yonghui Superstores, and Walmart have launched New Year’s Day and Spring Festival themed activities. Centering on consumption scenarios such as family dinners, holiday gift-giving, and outdoor trips, they have launched a wide variety of festival products to meet the diverse consumption needs of citizens.
“I recently saw that Walmart has launched many popular new products on social media, and since there’s a store near my home, I came to check them out.” At a Walmart hypermarket in Futian District, Ms. Wu, a local resident, pushed a shopping cart filled with her “purchases”. She told reporters that with the New Year’s Day holiday approaching, she and her family plan to take a self-driving trip during the short break. “I’m buying some cakes, snacks, milk and other items in advance so that we can enjoy them in the car anytime during the trip—it’s both convenient and hassle-free.”
“Hema launched its ‘New Year Shopping Festival’ on December 29, offering over a thousand high-quality New Year products. For the first time, it has introduced a number of AI interactive games and launched interesting new products such as pet New Year’s Eve dinners, fully satisfying consumers’ diverse expectations for the new year,” said a relevant person in charge of Hema’s New Year Shopping Festival. To cope with the holiday peak, Hema has increased the frequency of store deliveries and restocking to ensure that shelves are always full and product quality remains uncompromised.
Yonghui Superstores will launch its New Year Shopping Festival in January next year, planning a matrix of “ten-million-yuan best-selling products” and various premium New Year product categories, covering the full range of needs from pre-holiday gift preparation to Lantern Festival family gatherings. In addition, Yonghui’s online channels will launch a New Year gift pre-order campaign. Consumers can book popular New Year products in advance through multiple platforms including Yonghui Online Supermarket and Meituan Flash Purchase, enjoying a convenient online shopping experience.
