POWER TRIPS. Chinese tourists are emerging from virus confinement. During the five-day Labor Day holiday that ended this week, some 230 million trips read more were taken, a 120% increase from last year and more than in 2019. That boosted everything from movie-ticket sales to duty-free shopping. Travelers shunned international destinations, but unlike before they ventured further, to as far as Macau, which announced last year that mainland visitors no longer need to quarantine. Hotel and tour bookings in the gambling hub were 20 times higher than in 2020, according to data from Chinese travel site Fliggy. Trips to the island during the holiday bounced back to 25% of 2019’s level, official data show. The renewed enthusiasm came with confidence, as China’s stringent Covid-19 controls brought local infections down to zero and vaccination rates raced to as high as 50% in big Chinese cities such as Shanghai. It’s one more sign that the patchy Chinese consumer recovery may be finally gaining steam. (By Yawen Chen) On Twitter http://twitter.com/breakingviews Earlier in Capital Calls: KKR puts employees in deal terms read more Rio Tinto’s year of high explosives and high pay read more Patent panic overshadows Moderna read more Telecom Italia’s singular problem read more Euro zone bank laggards flatter to deceive read more Breakingviews Reuters Breakingviews is the world"s leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time. Sign up for a free trial of our full service at https://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors.