Guang Zhou Ri Bao·2026-03-03 13:39Core Insights - The 2026 Lantern Festival sees a significant increase in sales of "wealthy" tangyuan, with a notable rise in interest in local lantern festivals due to the occurrence of a total lunar eclipse on the same day [2][3][6] Group 1: Sales Trends - Sales of "wealthy" tangyuan have surged, with a 168% increase in popularity as consumers search for keywords like "have money" and "success" [3] - The number of merchants selling tangyuan on the Meituan platform has increased by 85% in the past week, with sales of "wealthy" tangyuan rising sixfold [4] - The overall search volume for Lantern Festival-related products has grown by 470% compared to the previous week [4] Group 2: Consumer Behavior - Young consumers are increasingly valuing "emotional value" in their purchases, leading to a trend of "dessertification" where traditional tangyuan are being transformed into creative dessert options [5] - Nearly 50,000 users have utilized AI to plan their Lantern Festival activities, indicating a shift towards technology-assisted decision-making for event planning [6] Group 3: Lantern Festival Events - The search interest for local lantern festivals has increased significantly, with the top five festivals being in cities like Zigong and Chengdu, surpassing major cities like Beijing and Shanghai [8] - Specific lantern festival locations, such as Tangshan and Meizhou, have seen their search volumes increase by 10 times and 6 times respectively compared to last year [9]