Per Huanqiu, summer — when school breaks and holidays overlap — concentrates experiential spending on tourism, exhibitions, shows and water leisure, with night markets and night tours thriving city to city.

Experience spending emphasizes 'participation and experience' over simple purchase; museums, themed exhibits and local festivals draw young people and family travelers.

For local economies, the summer economy ripples into lodging, dining and transport, and smaller cities chase the season with distinctive tourism.

Yet heat, safety management and peak-season prices are flagged as tasks for a sustainable summer economy.

Sinophone Bridge Times sees the rhythm of seasonal spending as a marker of a society's vitality — worth reading alongside the summer peak in Korea's Chinese commercial districts, too.