Alibaba's Qwen Shines During Lunar New Year Rush

As fireworks lit up the sky on February 17th, Alipay revealed staggering numbers from its "Qwen Treats" Spring Festival campaign. The AI assistant handled a tsunami of requests - 5 billion to be exact - as Chinese consumers relied on voice commands for everything from stocking holiday snacks to booking last-minute travel.

Movie Madness and Travel Boom

The period between February 14-17 saw particularly dramatic spikes. Cinema bookings through Qwen jumped 372 times compared to previous weeks, with Zhang Yimou's thriller "Silent Awakening" emerging as the surprise favorite. Smaller cities drove much of this growth - third and fourth-tier locations recorded an astonishing 782-fold increase in ticket purchases.

Meanwhile, transportation bookings told a similar story:

• Flight tickets: 22x increase
• Train/bus tickets: 7x increase

Nearly half these orders originated from county-level areas, highlighting how technology is bridging urban-rural divides.

Breaking Age Barriers

Perhaps most heartwarming was seeing seniors embrace the technology. About 4 million users over 60 completed their first-ever AI transactions during the campaign. Many discovered they could simply say "Qwen, help me buy train tickets" rather than navigating complex apps.

"The simplicity broke through," noted Alibaba spokesperson Li Wei. "When technology removes friction rather than creating it, adoption follows naturally."

Key Points:

• 130 million+ users accessed services via Qwen during Spring Festival
• 5 billion voice requests processed (mostly "Qwen, help me" commands)
• Movie ticket purchases surged 372x overall, with smaller cities seeing 782x growth
• Transportation bookings increased up to 22 times previous levels
• Nearly half of orders came from county-level markets
• About 4 million seniors made first-time AI transactions