“For a supermarket, traveling to a city”—this is the unique “cultural and tourism phenomenon” pioneered by Pang Donglai.

This year's National Day holiday saw Xuchang Pangdonglai welcome 4.5 million visitors over eight days, generating total sales of 820 million yuan—far surpassing the combined visitor numbers of Henan's five renowned 5A-level scenic spots, including Longmen Grottoes and Yuntai Mountain.

This supermarket, dubbed a "6A-level scenic spot" by netizens, no longer settles for passively welcoming visitors.

In October 2025, the company under Pang Donglai officially completed its business registration change. The business scope now includes tourism services, as well as conference and exhibition services.

Meanwhile, Pang Donglai has launched two high-priced corporate visit programs: the monthly open-day program charges 20,000 yuan per person, while the premium study-and-research program costs as much as 1 million yuan per person.

From the supermarket to the tourist destination

Pangdonglai is no longer your average supermarket. During the 2025 Spring Festival, its three core stores welcomed a total of 1.1633 million visitors over three days—nearly matching the 1.27 million tourists who visited Xuchang’s eight 4A-rated scenic spots over an eight-day period.

This supermarket has somehow managed to attract crowds on a scale comparable to that of a top-tier tourist attraction.

This set of data is even more telling: According to statistics from the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Pong Donglai achieved daily sales exceeding 100 million yuan during the Spring Festival holiday—nearly matching the total revenue generated by Henan’s most popular 5A-level scenic spots over an eight-day period. Given its popularity far surpassing that of most other attractions within Henan province, many netizens have jokingly dubbed Pong Donglai the "unofficial 6A-level scenic spot."

Tourists from out of town made a special 6-hour cross-city trip just to check in, and tour groups from Shandong, Hebei, and other regions have even launched dedicated "Pang Donglai Special Lines." Meanwhile, Pang Donglai has naturally become a major traffic driver for Xuchang's cultural and tourism industry. During the 2025 National Day holiday, thanks to Pang Donglai's growing popularity, Xuchang’s tourism revenue soared to 5.28 billion yuan, firmly establishing the city as one of China’s most beloved small urban destinations.

From "being clocked in" to "proactively taking action"

Not exactly cultural tourism, but even better than it—shifting from passive to proactive, Pangdonglai’s cultural and tourism strategy has recently made substantial progress.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, in October 2025, XuChang PangDongLai Industrial Co., Ltd. underwent an industrial and commercial change, officially adding tourism services, conference and exhibition services, and organizing cultural and artistic exchange activities to its business scope.

Meanwhile, Pang Donglai has launched two clearly priced visitation programs. Starting November 1, corporate-level visits will be open on the 10th and 20th of each month, with each group limited to no more than 15 participants. The visitation fee is 20,000 yuan per person.

Even more striking is Yu Donglai's announcement of a high-end executive education program set to launch next year in collaboration with the China Europe International Business School—each year, the program will admit fewer than ten entrepreneurs, with an individual participation fee of 1 million yuan.

The Pangdonglai side clarified that all proceeds from the initiative will be entirely dedicated to "Spreading the Path of Positivity," with the aim of establishing a high-quality platform for exchanging business management ideas.

Although the fees are high, market demand remains strong. According to sources close to the company, the first batch of 30 spots for the company’s Open Day, launched on November 1, sold out within just 10 minutes.

Pangdonglai's confidence in venturing into cultural and tourism industries stems first and foremost from its solid financial data.

In the first three quarters of 2025, Pang Donglai's retail sales have already reached 17.032 billion yuan, putting the company just one step closer to its annual target of keeping sales below 20 billion yuan.

Even more surprising, Pang Donglai has 4.1 billion yuan in cash on hand with no loans or liabilities.

At a time when brick-and-mortar supermarkets are generally facing tough times, P&G (Pang Dong Lai) is bucking the trend: In 2024, its revenue reached nearly 17 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.5%, with profits exceeding 800 million yuan. This strong performance has laid a "substantial" foundation for P&G to explore new business opportunities.

Secondly, what P&F provides is not just product value—but more profoundly, emotional value as well. This aligns closely with the core logic of cultural and tourism initiatives.

Consumers head to Pang Donglai, "traveling to a city for the sake of one supermarket"—but what they’re ultimately buying isn’t a single product; it’s a holistic experience filled with respect and warmth.

Pang Donglai’s 121 complimentary services—including valet parking, free herbal medicine preparation, and pet boarding—along with the heartfelt, genuine care shown by its employees, collectively create a powerful "emotional value." This transforms shopping into a truly "healing journey," redefining how people approach consumption: it’s “shopping, yet so much more than just shopping.”

Pang Donglai's cultural and tourism transformation aligns perfectly with the strategic vision of the Xuchang Municipal Government. On October 29, 2025, the General Office of the Xuchang Municipal People's Government issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the 'Pang Donglai' Experience to Drive High-Quality Development Through Premium Services."

The plan clearly calls for promoting "Pang Donglai's" advanced management philosophy and model, optimizing the business environment, and boosting market vitality.

The Xuchang Municipal Government has long since incorporated Pangdonglai into its cultural and tourism development plan, with plans to create a "Happiness Business Demonstration Zone." The government is not only vigorously promoting Pangdonglai as a key component of the city's cultural and tourism offerings but has also launched attractive cultural and tourism routes during the National Day holiday, featuring attractions like the Cao-Wei Ancient City and Pangdonglai itself.

By seamlessly integrating retail spaces with cultural experiences, cross-sector cultural, commercial, and tourism initiatives are provided with opportunities for resource consolidation.

In terms of supporting services, the Xuchang municipal government has thought even more carefully—optimizing 18 bus routes to provide direct access from the high-speed rail station to store locations, as well as opening up public parking spaces, addressing the issue of hotels arbitrarily raising prices, and strengthening traffic management efforts.

Provide all-around logistical support to retain tourists.

Despite the promising outlook, Pang Donglai's foray into cultural and tourism sectors still faces numerous challenges.

In terms of professionalism, the retail industry can achieve a high degree of standardization, but cultural and tourism sectors place greater emphasis on differentiation. If Fengdonglai goes beyond simply offering study-travel services and truly builds a core tourist attraction that extends far beyond shopping, it will need to further optimize and enhance its project planning, immersive experience design, and operational management.

Additionally, business balance presents another significant challenge. If excessive energy is devoted to new ventures while neglecting the core strengths of the company’s supermarket operations, it could not only lead to the premature failure of the new initiatives—but might even negatively impact the reputation of the supermarket business itself. After all, Pangdonglai’s core competitive advantage continues to stem from its high-quality service in the supermarket sector.

Additionally, how to convert the existing massive foot traffic into a steady stream of visitors for the cultural and tourism business, while simultaneously avoiding the decline in experience caused by excessive commercialization, is also a challenge that Pang Donglai needs to address.

However, regardless of everything, Pangdonglai's cross-industry ventures have already begun.

At a time when the cultural and tourism industry is calling for more "non-traditional professionals," companies like Pop Mart, iQIYI, and New Oriental have stepped in, injecting fresh vitality and momentum into the sector at different stages.

Pangdonglai, meanwhile, carries with it the stellar reputation built through its retail expertise and its massive organic traffic. If this approach proves successful, it could potentially shape the future direction of the entire retail industry—while also opening up new possibilities for the current development of the cultural and tourism sectors.

( The article expresses only the author's views and does not represent the platform's stance. )