As some of you may know, I play tennis. Naturally, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu or RED for short) now feeds me endless tennis-related content. Recently, alongside the usual match highlights and tutoring videos, I've been inundated with a new type of tennis content featuring the so-called "experiential tennis venues."
These venues, usually built in shopping malls or purposely converted industrial spaces, feature premium interior design, a wide range of tennis equipment for customers to choose from, and an active social media presence. However, there's a catch: the courts aren't full-sized, and your opponent isn't another player, but a soulless ball machine that projects tennis balls at a droning rhythm. It's like a slightly more realistic version of Wii Tennis.
THE CORE IDEA: These venues epitomize China's middle class's pursuit of "Lightweight Outdoor Experience." The term was popularized by Beneunder, a Chinese outdoor ath-leisure brand, in 2022, describing a lifestyle that enables people to enjoy outdoor and sporting activities in a more relaxed and accessible way. Simply put, they want the essence of the experience without the traditional barriers to entry.
THE BIG PICTURE: Look at the explosive growth of "glamping" sites near cities, the proliferation of indoor climbing walls in department stores, or the rise of urban skiing facilities — even in tropical cities where the chance of snow is zero. (Mission Hills, a luxury resort in Shenzhen, a tropical city, boasts the largest indoor skiing venue in China.) They all share the same DNA: taking traditionally challenging and demanding outdoor activities and sports and making them more approachable, more social, and thus more compatible with the Chinese middle class's leisure-over-competition lifestyle.
CASE IN POINT: Brands tailoring products and marketing strategies to this "lightweight outdoor" lifestyle can quickly gain popularity. From 19-gram foldable sunglasses by Beneunder to versatile three-in-one FILA windbreakers, most of the brands who newly found success in China did so by prioritizing versatility and convenience over professional-grade performance.
Montbell, once a niche Japanese outdoor brand known only to hardcore enthusiasts, repositioned itself for China's urbanized mass market just over a year ago. Now, with the slogan "Light & Fast. Function is Beauty," it's considered on par with Arc'teryx, Salomon and Patagonia in China. On social media, the setting of the brand's advertising visuals shifted from "no man's land" on Instagram to urban environments on Little Red Book, featuring models who are trendy and fashionable, rather than rugged and heroic. This elevation is reflected in its pricing strategy, too—its Storm Cruiser Jacket, for instance, is priced almost twice as much in China as in its home Japan.
OUR TAKE: Drawing on my own experience growing up in China, I believe this phenomenon stems from China's rapid economic growth. In just two generations, we've gone from rationing to becoming the world's second-largest consumer market. Yet, having endless options on Taobao doesn't necessarily mean we've inherited the culture, lifestyle, and know-how behind the products.
YES, BUT: Some might argue these "lightweight" versions of outdoor and/or sporting activities dilute the authentic experience. True, hitting balls from a machine in a mall isn't the same as playing a competitive match on a proper clay court, and doing a City Walk in Shanghai's touristy French Concession District in a North Face jacket is a much more pleasant experience than trekking through the Amazon. But that misses the point. The "lightweight" trend isn't about replacing traditional outdoor activities; it's about making outdoor recreation more accessible to a broader audience. It's almost a new invention for a new generation of consumers.
LOOKING AHEAD: From a marketing perspective, apart from the outdoor apparel industry, this article may be relevant to the following industries:
Outdoor tourism: As mentioned in our China in Brief this week, European countries are seeing a surge in Chinese tourists who seek skiing and other outdoor and winter activities. As opposed to the traditional approach of highlighting the "authentic" experience of self-challenging, perhaps it's also worth looking at some more lightweight aspects of the experience.
Emerging sports: Tennis has received a major uplift recently thanks to Qinwen Zheng's gold medal in this year's Olympics. Other sports, like pickleball, padel, Spikeball, surfing, cycling (including BMX), skateboarding, etc., may also benefit from looking at this trend when planning to enter China. 🎾
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