【Epoch Times News，October 21, 2025】China’s economy is weakening, leading to a downgrade in consumer spending. Intense price competition has resulted in the closure of many small food and beverage shops. To make up for the decline in revenue, some high-end hotels have had to set aside their pride and resort to “hitting the streets” to sell meals.
Under the wave of downgraded consumer spending, even the high-end catering industry is finding it difficult to escape the impact. According to a report by Jingbao Net on October 21, recently, several star-rated hotels in Beijing, including Beiyuan Grand Hotel, Lido Regal Holiday Hotel, Kuntai Jia Cheng Hotel, and Huilongguan Hotel, have moved their five-star quality cuisine to the streets and alleys. A visit revealed that several hotels offering outdoor services have seen an increase in revenue.
The trend of “Several Star-Rated Hotels in Beijing Setting Up Outdoor Stalls” has once again become a hot topic, sparking discussions among the public.
User “Beng Teaholic 391” commented: It’s obviously squeezing the survival space of bottom-tier eateries.
User “Cong Dongyan 73” commented: It seems like all the five-star hotels in the country are doing takeout.
User “Smile Today” commented: Are these dishes cooked by the hotels themselves? Is it enough to cover the chefs’ salaries?
User “The More Heartfelt, The More Surprised” commented: Now the star ratings of these hotels have directly dropped by two stars.
Beiyuan Grand Hotel in Beijing started “hitting the streets” a few months ago. According to a Reuters report in August, every evening, staff at Beiyuan Grand Hotel in Beijing set up stalls outside the hotel to sell freshly prepared delicacies. They hope to offset the decline in revenue caused by Chinese consumers and businesses cutting back on travel, meetings, and banquet expenses.
The hotel’s Director of Sales, Anwen Xu, explained that this was to find new sources of income, stating: “Nowadays, it’s not just a matter of lowering prices or offering discounts to attract customers. People just aren’t coming.”
Ms. Xu from the hotel mentioned that the best-selling item outdoors is the hotel’s signature dish, crispy roasted pigeon, priced at 38 yuan each, whereas it is listed at 58 yuan on the indoor menu.
Since opening on July 28, this stall sells around 130 pigeons per day, up from the previous sales of about 80 pigeons per day.
She added that the outdoor stall’s profit margin is about 10% to 15%, higher than conventional eateries, but still not enough to fully offset the indoor business decline.
Earlier this year, Beijing banned large banquets and restricted alcohol consumption, which also had a negative impact on business. Within a few months, the hotel’s private room occupancy rate dropped from full to about one-third, and average per capita spending inside halved to around 100-150 yuan.
With consumer spending down and competition in the hotel industry intensifying, hotels are striving to make profits from roadside stalls.
According to various social media and mainland media reports, in recent months, at least 15 high-end hotels nationwide have begun to emulate this practice of setting up stalls outside to sell meals. Staff members mentioned that hotel sales were negatively affected by weakened consumer demand, reduced budgets for corporate and official trips, and insufficient banquet bookings.
An employee, Wei Zheng, from Grand Metropark Hotel in Beijing, told Reuters: “The food and beverage business is under tremendous pressure.” The hotel started setting up stalls to sell food on July 10. Wei mentioned that many hotels have resorted to setting up stalls and other methods to increase revenue. He stated that the hotel can earn a few thousand yuan extra daily by selling items such as braised duck, stewed fish, and spicy crayfish.
Even five-star hotels in Shanghai are relying on selling affordable snacks at stalls for survival.
According to mainland media reports, Jinling Zijinshan Grand Hotel in Shanghai’s Lujiazui area organized a “community canteen” on weekday evenings, offering affordable dishes such as 5 yuan for a Jinling big meat bun, 20 yuan for two braised lion’s head meatballs, as well as traditional Shanghai smoked fish, hairy crab rice cakes, and other home-cooked dishes.
Many hotel operators point out that some long-established five-star hotels have reached a critical point where if they don’t transform, they will face closure.
However, while the “downgrade and strike” strategy of five-star hotels has opened up new survival space for themselves, it has put even greater pressure on small food and beverage businesses at the bottom of the pyramid.
User “Traveler Expressing Opinions” stated: Consumers are limited. The cake in the food and beverage market is only so big. These big players take a large piece, leaving only a small piece. Many ordinary eateries will get even less. The competition spreading from high-end to low-end will ultimately result in big brands still being able to save themselves, while ordinary people will find it even more difficult.