National Day holidays and adventure-seeking tourists

This week, over 700 million Chinese will be on the move, hitting the nation’s superhighways or boarding trains, planes, buses, and cruise ships to embark on National Day (国庆 guóqìng) vacations:

• Six million far-flung travelers will visit 100 different countries, while the vast majority, traveling within China, will generate 480 billion yuan ($72 billion) in revenue over this year’s extra-long eight-day break.
• Many Chinese travellers are no longer content to be ferried around in groups following a person with a yellow hat and an ear-splitting loudhailer.
• On The China Project, Simone McCarthy looks at how Chinese travellers between the ages of 23 to 34 are starting to seek unique experiences and adventure, and the economic knock-on effects of this trend.

In related news:

• The South China Morning Post says that Thailand topped the list of international destinations for Chinese National Day tourists, followed by Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam. Hong Kong and South Korea were conspicuous by their absence from their usual places in the top five.
• Sixth Tone says there is a growing market for translation apps as Chinese tourists with no second language venture abroad in growing numbers.

• Auto industry and banking
  China’s Geely to take control of Denmark’s Saxo Bank / Reuters
• Economic crystal ball
  Chinese economy has ‘darker story’ ahead, China Beige Book says / Bloomberg
  “A gauge of activity at small companies edged down and an index of sales-manager sentiment weakened. That fits with concern expressed in the [subscription report] China Beige Book this month that progress on reducing debt and industrial capacity is proving elusive.”
  Elsewhere, Bloomberg says: “China’s pollution curbs may start slowing growth within months.”
• Smartphones
  Huawei passes Apple as Chinese consumers’ first choice for smartphones, report says / Caixin