Why are movie tickets in county towns more expensive than in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou?

In some county towns, movie ticket prices even exceed those in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. A ticket for Nezha 2 can easily cost 70, 80 or even 100 yuan. Behind this phenomenon, there is both the release of entertainment consumption demand in the sinking market and the reality that county theaters are in short supply. This article will explore in depth why movie ticket prices in county towns are so high, as well as the social and economic reasons behind this phenomenon.

The consumption capacity of the county town is still astonishing.

During the Spring Festival, Chen Shao, born in the 2000s, watched "Nezha 2" in a county town in Xinyang, Henan Province. The ticket cost 75 yuan. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still surprised. "My sister watched it in Beijing and the ticket was only 60 yuan."

It's not just in Henan. On social media platforms, many netizens posted the prices of movie tickets in their "eighteen-tier county towns". Some county towns even cost over 100 yuan, far exceeding those in first-tier cities.

Relevant statistics also show that during the Spring Festival in 2025, ticket prices in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai were relatively stable, and the movie ticket prices at Wanda Cinemas IMAX stores in Shanghai and Guangzhou during the same period were around 60 yuan.

However, the ticket prices in some third- and fourth-tier cities and county towns are even higher than those in first-tier cities. For example, the ticket prices for "Detective Chinatown 1900" in Chaohu City, Anhui Province and Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province start at 119.9 yuan and 124.9 yuan respectively.

According to data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of February 4, the average ticket price for the 2025 Spring Festival was 52 yuan.

In fact, the high ticket prices for county-level movies are not new to the 2025 Spring Festival. In 2024, many netizens complained that the ticket prices for county-level cinemas were too high, but this year's Spring Festival was even more obvious.

Behind this, it demonstrates the commercial conversion ability of the 2025 Spring Festival period. In particular, the highly acclaimed "Nezha 2" is hard to get a ticket in many county cinemas.

The deeper reason lies in the fact that with the release of entertainment consumption demand in county towns, the supply of cinemas in the sinking market has been in short supply, resulting in an inverted price of movie tickets in county towns.

But even so, cinemas in county towns still cannot be said to be doing good business. It is an indisputable fact that except for the Spring Festival, the attendance rate of cinemas in these places is still not high.

01 Movie ticket prices in county towns are more expensive than those in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

"I never thought that the movie ticket prices in county towns would be higher than those in first-tier cities, and even higher than the national average." Like Chen Shao, Lin Hua, whose hometown is a county town in Hunan, was also shocked by the movie ticket prices in the county town.

Lin Hua works in Beijing and goes back to his hometown to celebrate the New Year every year. In previous years, he never thought of going to the movies during the Spring Festival, but this year, he could not resist the temptation of "Nezha 2". On the fifth day of the New Year, he took his family to the county cinema for the first time.

Arriving at the cinema, Lin Hua was first shocked by the flow of people. "I never thought that the cinema in the county town would be so lively."

Then, what surprised Lin Hua even more was the ticket price. "The ticket price for the IMAX Hall's golden seat is 83 yuan. Even in Chaoyang District, Beijing, the ticket price for the IMAX Hall will not exceed 70 yuan."

But with the mentality of "it's not that expensive, I'm here, I can't not watch it", Lin Hua still took his family to watch the movie, but he was still surprised by the spending power of the county town, "Many people brought their families with them. Once they entered, there were seven or eight people. The movie ticket alone cost nearly a thousand yuan."

Later, Lin Hua inquired and found out that normally the movie ticket price in the county is less than 50 yuan, "but the price has increased during the Spring Festival."

But the ticket price of around 50 yuan still surprised Lin Hua. "In Beijing, it usually costs around 40 yuan, which I think is quite expensive."

But Sister Yan, who has been living in a county in Anhui, is not surprised by this. This Spring Festival, Sister Yan also took her family to see "Nezha 2". In her county, there is no IMAX theater, and the ticket price for an ordinary screening hall is 52 yuan per ticket, but she thinks it is within affordable range.

In Yan Jie's opinion, it is not excessive to spend a few dozen yuan to watch a movie during the Spring Festival. "We rarely go to the movies during normal times, and we only take our family to enjoy this luxury once a year. Most people will not hesitate to pay a few dozen yuan for a ticket."

Sister Yan told us that in fact, in her county, the normal movie ticket prices are not expensive, "usually less than 30 yuan, and there are not many people watching. But every Spring Festival, the cinema will increase the price. This Spring Festival, maybe there are many people watching movies, so the price increase is the largest."

During the Spring Festival, movie ticket prices in Yanjie's county have doubled. Even so, when Yanjie went to see "Nezha 2", she still couldn't buy the most suitable time slot. In Yanjie's opinion, "it may be because the movie is too popular this year."

It's not just the county where Lin Hua and Sister Yan live. On social platforms, there are a lot of complaints about the high movie ticket prices in the county.

Figure: Related content on social media platforms complaining about the high cost of movie tickets in county towns

Source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu's "Handset Tech"

Many media also reported that during this year's Spring Festival, many county cinemas experienced a "reverse price" phenomenon. Not only in Hunan and Henan, but also in Anhui, Fujian and other places, the ticket prices in many county towns exceeded those in first-tier cities.

According to media reports, ticket prices at many county cinemas showed significant fluctuations throughout the Spring Festival.

Take a county-level city in Zhoukou, Henan, for example. Ticket prices rose from the daily average of 45 yuan to a peak of 128 yuan from New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, a 184% increase. In comparison, the ticket price of Beijing Sanlitun Taikoo Li Cinema was only adjusted from 75 yuan to 98 yuan during the same period.

02 The social needs and price insensitivity of “small town youth”

In Chen Shao’s opinion, “scarcity of entertainment” is an important reason for the inverted ticket prices in county towns.

"When I go home for the Spring Festival, the older kids play cards. The younger ones have no other entertainment options except playing with their mobile phones." Watching a movie is the "most respectable" form of entertainment that Chen Shao and his friends can think of. Even though the county town is about an hour's drive from home, Chen Shao still goes to the cinema with his friends every Spring Festival.

Like Chen Shao, another post-05 generation named Le Ge even thought, "I feel ashamed if I didn't go to see a movie during the Spring Festival this year."

In Le Ge's opinion, the most "face-saving" way of entertainment during this Spring Festival was to watch "Nezha 2" with friends. "If we hadn't watched it, it would have been boring to talk about it."

Lin Hua, on the other hand, wanted to "show his parents the world". This Spring Festival was the first time he took his parents to the cinema to watch a movie. "I only had this idea before, but this year is the first time I took them to the cinema."

In fact, Lin Hua also found that there are more and more "small town youth" who think the same as him. On social platforms, many workers posted about themselves taking their parents to the movies. "Take parents to enjoy life" is the common idea of ​​these people.

In Lin Hua's view, entertainment methods that are in line with those in big cities have become a rigid demand for "small town youth" who return to their hometowns. "The development of social platforms has equalized the demand for entertainment methods in big cities and small counties. To some extent, it can be called the demand for 'entertainment equality'."

Behind the “urgent need for entertainment” is a lack of sensitivity to price.

Cyber ​​natives, represented by Le Ge, are not very sensitive to ticket prices. Le Ge admitted that when he went to the movies, he did not pay attention to the ticket prices. "If I want to go to the movies, I will just book online and never compare the ticket prices."

Even Chen Shaoyi, who was surprised by the high ticket prices, admitted that if he had not chatted with his sister, he would not have noticed that movie tickets in the county were so expensive.

Lin Hua and Yan Jie are representatives of another group. "As long as the family is happy, it's fine. It's just a once-a-year purchase, so we don't care too much about the ticket price."

Photo: The cinema where Ma Ge works

Source: Photo provided by Ma Ge

Many cinemas in counties are naturally good at taking advantage of consumers' psychology. Ma Ge, a staff member working at a cinema in a county in Hunan, told us frankly that every Spring Festival, cinemas will increase prices, and the extent of the price increase depends on the cinema's attendance rate.

According to Ma Ge, the cinema where he works had the largest price increase during this year's Spring Festival, with prime time ticket prices doubling compared to usual.

"For example, during the prime time of Nezha 2, on the third and fourth days of the Chinese New Year, we locked in high-priced pre-sale tickets in advance, and the ticket price was about 20 yuan more expensive than other time periods." Ma Ge said with a smile that in the county, there is a strange consumption phenomenon, "the more expensive the ticket, the better it sells."

"In our cinema, the IMAX theater is 50% higher than the ordinary theater, and the attendance rate is even higher." Not only that, the popcorn, which costs 35 yuan a bucket, is in short supply. Ma Ge bluntly said that "expensive means high-end" has become a typical "price trap" for county consumption.

03 “Only during the Spring Festival”

As Ma Ge said, in recent years, "county consumption upgrade" has become the cognition of many people.

"Starbucks is always packed", "Luxury goods are everywhere", "People from first-tier cities who return home are considered 'country dogs', while cousins ​​in the village are the real fashion" and other phenomena seem to reveal that there is a strong demand for quality upgrades in county towns.

"It's expensive, but it's worthy of my life" seems to have become the "standard" for consumption in county towns.

What has led to “county consumption upgrade”?

Taking movies as an example, the increase in movie production costs is an important factor in the increase in ticket prices in county towns. Relevant data shows that in recent years, in order to meet the latest screening standards, the equipment operation and maintenance costs of county theaters have increased by 28% year-on-year, which has also led to an increase in movie ticket prices.

In addition, during holidays such as the Spring Festival, the mismatch between screen density and population base in county towns also leads to ticket price differences.

Relevant data also show that as of the first half of 2024, there are 48,000 screens in more than 2,800 county towns across the country, and the number of people served by a single screen is much higher than that in big cities. This imbalance between supply and demand has further pushed up ticket prices.

On the other hand, the Spring Festival period is the golden period for the film market, and the temporal and spatial concentration of movie-watching consumption also makes theaters more inclined to adopt a "peak pricing" strategy.

For example, during the 2025 Spring Festival, "family movie-watching" orders in third- and fourth-tier cities accounted for 71%, 26 percentage points higher than in first- and second-tier cities. This pulsed consumption characteristic caused ticket prices to increase significantly during holidays.

"For example, movies like Nezha 2 are the first choice for family viewing, after all, both young and old can watch it." In Ma Ge's opinion, in counties where pricing is relatively free, price increases are inevitable in the case of "supply exceeding demand" during the Spring Festival. "The real attendance rate is only during the Spring Festival."

But is the county's economy really so prosperous? At least Ma Ge doesn't think so.

"For example, movie theaters only have one peak season a year, and the occupancy rate is usually no more than 10%." Ma said frankly that consumption in county towns may not be as good as imagined. "In my opinion, county towns are more of a 'face project'."

As Ma said, data shows that the scheduling of county cinemas is highly dependent on the Spring Festival and National Day periods, with more than 60% of the annual box office concentrated in 20 days. In 2023, the closure rate of county cinemas exceeded 12%.

However, in the past two years, public opinion about "consumption upgrading in counties" seems to have given capital an expectation of a "promising future."

Brother Ma told us that two years ago, there were only two cinemas in his county. Even though the attendance was not very good, last year, the county still added two larger cinemas.

According to Ma Ge, the two newly added cinemas are still in a loss-making state. In Ma Ge's opinion, perhaps the capital is optimistic about the potential market, "maybe they are betting that 'consumption will upgrade in the future'."

However, Ma Ge admitted that according to his observation, the number of people going to cinemas has indeed increased in the past two years, "but it is far from enough to meet the needs of cinemas."

"What theaters need to do is obviously not just raise ticket prices, but to introduce truly effective measures." Ma Ge bluntly stated that what county theaters should consider more is to provide a variety of innovative movie-watching experiences, rather than just relying on the return of migrant workers during the Spring Festival to make a fortune. Only by truly mobilizing the movie-watching demand in the sinking market can they achieve a steady stream of business.

"We have to admit that there is indeed a strong demand for watching movies in the rural market, but the ticket price has kept these groups out. I think it is worth a try to provide movie viewing benefits with major catering brands and hold outdoor movie screenings."

As Ma Ge said, in the view of Lin Hua and Sister Yan, there is indeed a certain space for survival in county cinemas in the future, but what they need to do is to truly unlock the key to "high prices" and allow consumers in the sinking market to truly satisfy their ultimate pursuit of "sense of worthiness."

"Only when consumers in these sinking markets truly feel that it is 'worth it' can this potential market be truly stimulated." At least that's what Lin Hua and his colleagues think.

(All names in this article are pseudonyms.)

Text | Editor | Rao Yan