(Yicai Global) Aug. 23 -- Consumption related to food, drink, flowers, and gifts spiked in China yesterday, which was the Qixi Festival, one of several ‘Chinese Valentine's Days.’

Qixi-themed set meals saw a 118 percent surge in the week to yesterday from the prior seven days, while reservations on the day soared 185 percent from a year ago, data from Chinese on-demand services provider Meituan showed. To attract couples, merchants offered Western and Japanese cuisine, seafood, hot pot, and other meals.

A buffet seafood restaurant in Kunming imported two tons of fresh rock lobsters from Southeast Asia before the festival and stayed open for two extra hours yesterday. The number of diners at Haidilao Hotpot swelled as the chain pre-sold weekday set meals for two via livestreaming for use yesterday.

Orders of flowers, a must for Valentine's Day, jumped nearly 30 percent as of noon yesterday from a year earlier, according to data from flash sale retail services platform Meituan Shangou. Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai were the top cities for flower consumption.

Online grocery platform Dingdong Maicai offered 10 types of Qixi-themed bouquets, selling over 10,000 units, with many sold out during a pre-sale period.

Taking photos with a marriage certificate in hand was also a viral activity, with studio reservations up significantly yesterday from last year, according to the boss of Chunshu Photographic Studio. Photographers' schedules were full around the festival, and they refused bookings for more than 10 couples, he added.

Cosmetics, jewelry, and watches were popular gifts. Sales of sunglasses, watches, and necklace gift boxes nearly tripled from a month ago, and that of gold earrings and wallets doubled, data from JD.Com showed. High-end sports brands saw a 231 percent surge in sales from a month ago, while luxury brands Coach, Michael Kors, and Versace notched rapid growth, according to e-commerce platform Vipshop.com.

Alibaba Group Holding's courier unit Cainiao Network Technology offered just-in-time delivery for many cosmetics brands yesterday, while Xianyu, the firm's app for second-hand goods, released a Couple Profile Picture Testing service. Takeout platform Ele.me. had over 500,000 participants in its Write a Love Letter to Him/Her event.

Editor: Martin Kadiev