China's Golden Week Ends With Quiet Wallets and Fresh Doubts About Demand

China's 13-day Golden Week holiday is over and its travellers are heading home. Their spending was subdued, and that softness has raised fresh questions about domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy.

The story lives in the gap between the two facts: people moved, wallets didn't. A holiday that produces crowds but not receipts is exactly the kind of signal that makes forecasters nervous about consumer-led growth.