China's Summer Box Office Hits Record as Domestic Films Drive Tourism

China's three-month summer box office season concluded on Monday with another record-breaking performance, according to data from box office tracker Dengta. The 2026 season, running from June 1 to August 31, surpassed last summer's takings, exceeding 12.44 billion yuan (over 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) as of Monday morning, marking two consecutive years of growth.

The season saw a series of major blockbuster releases across various genres draw moviegoers, while authorities launched campaigns to boost consumption nationwide.

Among the biggest hits was "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East," a realistic drama blending anti-war themes with a culinary story of cross-cultural warmth. The film has inadvertently turned its domestic shooting locations into popular travel destinations, with most scenes of the war-torn Middle Eastern town shot in the sprawling Gobi desert.

A standout location is the Shitanjing Film Town in Shizuishan City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which provided the film's vast desert and battlefield backdrops. The heavily guarded military checkpoint seen in the movie is actually Shitanjing's iconic stone gatehouse, now one of the most popular photo spots in the area. Since the film's release on August 11, average daily visitors to Shitanjing have surged to around 2,000.

Once a major coal base, Shitanjing preserves architectural remnants and industrial sites across 10 square kilometers. Combined with the region's distinctive Gobi and barren landscapes, the area has become a favored filming location, serving as a backdrop for more than 60 film and television productions.

Seizing the opportunity, the city has developed a series of film-themed tourism routes, turning on-screen appeal into real-world visits and establishing Shitanjing as a benchmark for China's "film plus" cultural tourism integration initiative.