BEIJING: Stocking up on Chinese New Year goods, visiting loved ones, indulging in reunion feasts and attending vibrant temple fairs – China’s Spring Festival, the most cherished traditional celebration, is not only a time for family reunions, but has also become a major driver of consumption.
This year, with the Chinese government designating New Year’s Eve as a statutory holiday, the Spring Festival holiday has been extended to eight days, creating even more opportunities for businesses to thrive.
The eight-day holiday has sparked people’s tourism enthusiasm. According to the Ministry of Transport, this year’s Spring Festival travel rush is expected to set new records in total trips. Over the 40-day period, cross-regional travel is projected to reach 9 billion trips.
During this Spring Festival, many Chinese opted for both family reunions and travel. “The longer holiday gives me the flexibility to both visit family and take a trip,” said Fang Ying from Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, who plans to reunite with her family before heading to Japan for skiing.
Flight booking data from Qunar, a Chinese online travel agency, reveals that 50 percent more travelers are purchasing multiple tickets compared to last year, thanks to the extended break.
As this is the first Spring Festival following its inclusion in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, destinations with unique local traditional cultural activities are drawing increasing crowds. Famous events like Quanzhou’s puppet shows, Shantou’s Yingge dance and the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Shanghai are becoming must-see attractions for both locals and tourists alike. Outbound tourism has also reached new heights. According to Qunar, Chinese tourists visited over 2,100 cities worldwide, a 50-percent increase from last year. Ctrip, another online travel agency, reports that cross-border travel orders on the holiday’s first day were up by more than 30 percent. Top destinations include Japan, Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Australia and Vietnam.
Thanks to relaxed visa policies, such as the “240-hour visa-free transit” rule, more international visitors are choosing to visit China during the Spring Festival. Ctrip’s data shows a remarkable 203 percent year-on-year increase in inbound travel orders during the holiday, with tourists flocking from countries including South Korea, Japan, the U.S., Australia and the UK.
To enrich the visitor experience, many attractions have introduced special Spring Festival activities. For instance, Chengdu’s Wuhou Temple hosted a festive “Little Fortune God” event, where six foreign children were chosen as the “Little Fortune God,” a symbolic role believed to bring good fortune to themselves and their families in the year ahead.
A visitor from Singapore shared her experience with the China Media Group: “I heard the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival is a must-see event in Shanghai, and it truly lives up to its reputation.” This is her first trip to China, and she has already tried local delicacies like “da bing” (Chinese pancake), “you tiao” (fried dough sticks), “cifan” (glutinous rice rolls) and “dou jiang” (soy milk) in other Chinese cities. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
