National pastime is shopping: survey

In the United States, baseball has long been considered the national pastime. In fact, baseball's popularity surged last year with a thrilling postseason after the sport had lost ground to pro football in the last two decades.

And with numerous controversies besetting the NFL, baseball has regained some of that national goodwill.

Sports are well received in China too, but a recent survey has concluded that online shopping is the "favorite leisure activity" of the Chinese people.