China logged a record 329.5 million trips in a single day during Golden Week, and PMI data improved too. But hotel-stay patterns show people traveling longer and cheaper, not spending more, while the yuan hit its strongest level since 2023.
No Filter Finance argues the PMI rebound is a manufacturing-led recovery, with production back above 50 even as employment and imports remain in contraction and property investment still deeply negative. Source
Mainland markets are dark until 8 October, and Beijing is using the silence well. China logged 329.5 million cross-regional trips in a single day on 1 October, a Ministry of Transport-tracked holiday high, with railways alone carrying a record 25.204 million passengers. The headline number reads like a consumption boom. The detail underneath it reads more like a nation traveling cheaply and for a long time, not spending freely.
