This photo taken on May 1, 2024 shows the space capsule accommodation at the Bukui Yunhe Camping Base in Qiqihar, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua)
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Camping trip, a rising star in China's leisure consumption landscape, has gained momentum as urban dwellers increasingly embrace "mini-vacations" -- short, accessible getaways combining nature immersion and social bonding.
"Last weekend, my friends and I drove to Wangjingtai in Miyun District for camping. We brewed tea by the river and watched the sunrise the next morning. It's become our go-to way of unwinding without lengthy planning," said Ms Tian, a Beijing Chaoyang resident, mirroring rising enthusiasm for such a trendy leisure activity.
Camping has evolved from a niche experience into a mainstream leisure activity and has become one of the focal points of consumption-boost policies. The camping industry has seen faster development boosted by policy support, and camping-related spending is poised to become a new growth driver in consumption and a new drivinng force for tourism transformation, industry observers note.
-- New engine in travel consumption
"Recently, even on weekdays, many visitors come for camping, and our site is now fully booked through the end of May," according to the campsite manager of Xiaohangkeng Campsite in Huzhou City of east China's Zhejiang Province.
Regarding the camping boom, a source with a Beijing-based outdoor organization gave some of the clues. "Camping could be relatively low-budget while still offers diverse experiences, appealing to a broad audience. Also, most campsites provide equipment rentals, making the activity more accessible."
Driven by the camping craze, sales of related gears are also surging.
Data from smzdm.com, an online shopping recommendation website, shows that during the "Women's Day promotional campaign," the gross merchandise value (GMV) of tents, canopies, and folding chairs increased by 428.04 percent, 182.99 percent, and 409.03 percent year-on-year, respectively.
"Featuring outdoor, short-distance, social-bonding, and green, camping has rapidly captured China's tourism market as a new growth engine for travel spending," remarked Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy.
-- New frontier for business deployment
The camping boom has triggered a surge in investment, with enterprises across equipment manufacturing, site development, and activity planning rapidly scaling operations. Data from Qichacha, a leading platform offering company information inquiry services, reveals 148,500 camping-related businesses operating for over one year as of March 18, 2025, while an industry insight by China Economic Information Service reports over 60 percent of these firms were established within the past three years—a clear marker of the sector's explosive growth.
Relevant listed companies are actively deploying in the sector. Zhejiang Zhengte (001238.SZ), a high-tech outdoor leisure manufacturer, is transitioning from traditional shade products to camping gears and foldable furniture, anticipating these lines to drive future revenue growth.
Meanwhile, automakers are innovating vehicles into mobile camping facilities. BYD Han DM-i sedan now features a 6kW external discharge function which can power induction cookers and projectors for outdoor setups. NIO's app-based marketplace offers everything from tents to foldable wagons, with some products amassing over 10,000 user reviews. "Cars are no longer only for the road. They are becoming camping infrastructures as well," an industry analyst noted.
-- New force for tourism transformation
Camping's evolution from niche hobby to mainstream leisure owes much to coordinated policy support, industry observers note.
The recently released plan on special initiatives to increase consumption by the General Office of the State Council proposes deepening the integration of online-offline consumption and fostering cross-sector collaboration in commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and health industries to create more diverse consumption scenarios. The plan also advocates for including service consumption sectors such as camping into the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce and seven other departments jointly released a circular on pilot reform on the circulation and consumption of automobiles, calling for standardized and orderly development of automotive sectors including vehicle customization, car rentals, motor sports, RV camping, and classic car preservation.
Local governments are translating these mandates into actionable plans. Shanghai's 2025-2027 tourism blueprint targets new types of tourism such as low-altitude tourism, motorhome camping, tent camping, and hiking. It also aims to build demonstrative metaverse-integrated tourism zones.
Meanwhile, Xiamen City in southeast China's Fujian Province newly released a guideline to promote a rational layout of public outdoor leisure camping sites and improve the supporting public service facilities.
"The development of camping-related industries will catalyze the transformation of tourism while enhancing urban life quality," according to an official with Xiamen municipal natural resources and planning bureau. (Edited by Zhang Lexi, Niu Huizhe with Xinhua Silk Road, niuhuizhe@xinhua.org)
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