BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) — “Guonian,” which suggests “crossing the year,” is greater than only a competition marking the arrival of the brand new yr for the Chinese individuals.
Though the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is now celebrated in lots of locations worldwide, the true that means of “Guonian” can solely be absolutely understood by experiencing it in China.
“The celebration is big, stretching for a month with a lot of food, fireworks and cultural events,” stated Kayleen Fangbi from Belgium. “I love it.”
Lanterns and fairy lights adorn each nook, whereas outlets bustle with individuals laden with giant buying luggage, as noticed by a Spanish couple touring in Beijing simply days earlier than the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan. 29 this yr.
Spotting the snake-themed decorations, they determined to search for the meanings of the Chinese zodiac on-line and found that this yr is the Year of the Snake. “One of us is a Horse, and the other is a Sheep,” they famous, clearly discovering all of it fairly fascinating.
Invitations to hitch within the celebration had been shared by way of the Chinese way of life app rednote, with many Chinese netizens providing ideas and native authorities selling festive actions. The surge in exercise comes because the app features many customers from the United States and different international locations, following the U.S. authorities’s menace to ban TikTook.
With the trending hashtag “Chinese New Year,” many foreigners shared about their Spring Festival celebrations just about from wherever they had been, with some expressing the enjoyment of savoring an genuine expertise of the vacation in China.
Beyond the normal fireworks, decorations, dragon dances, and lion dances, Spring Festival celebrations throughout China characteristic distinct native traditions, every including its distinctive taste to the vacation. They all share frequent themes: household reunions and hope for success within the yr forward.
The various social practices all through the Chinese New Year celebrations, lately listed as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, provide worldwide guests a wealthy array of experiences throughout this era.
In the Chaoshan area of south China’s Guangdong Province, the normal Yingge dance provides a vibrant New Year environment to the celebrations. Videos showcasing the dance have garnered tens of millions of views, drawing many vacationers to spend the Spring Festival within the space.
The dancers, wearing colourful costumes that signify historical heroes and heroines, maintain brief picket sticks and carry out rhythmic actions, akin to swinging the sticks, hanging them collectively, and stamping their toes.
“I was completely captivated by the strength and precision of their movements, the rhythmic sounds of their stomping and sticks clashing, and their powerful shouts of encouragement,” stated Thanita Raemee from Thailand, after watching Yingge Dance performances.
It’s stated that when the lanterns in Yuyuan Garden mild up, the Spring Festival begins in Shanghai, one of many high locations for international guests in China.
After strolling by the winding corridors and pavilions, a German vacationer purchased quite a few Chinese New Year-themed souvenirs in Yuyuan Garden. “I want to bring the festive blessings to my friends back home,” she stated.
“A major change is that foreign tourists mostly just walked around in the past, but now they bring real spending power,” stated Hu Junjie, vice chairman of Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart (Group) Co., Ltd., including that they’re significantly within the lantern shows, conventional Chinese make-up and costumes, particular delicacies, and cultural merchandise.
Tatiana, 70, a customer from Russia on a visit to the town of Sanya within the southern island province of Hainan, stated that she and her daughter got here particularly to expertise the Spring Festival.
At a neighborhood occasion, she eagerly took half in interactive actions. “Writing the Chinese character ‘Fu (meaning blessing)’ with a calligraphy brush was such a unique experience,” she stated. They additionally loved watching conventional Chinese cultural performances, together with the distinctive Li and Miao ethnic folks dances of Hainan.
Russia stays Hainan’s largest supply of worldwide vacationers and a key marketplace for Sanya’s inbound tourism. The resumption and opening of worldwide flight routes and visa-free coverage have attracted extra Russian vacationers to the island.
China expects a growth in worldwide guests throughout this Spring Festival vacation. Data from Trip.com Group reveals that inbound tourism orders for the 2025 Spring Festival rose over 30 p.c yr on yr.
Data launched by the Chinese journey providers platform Qunar confirmed that as of Jan. 28, the variety of home flights booked in the course of the Spring Festival by vacationers with non-Chinese passports has elevated by 70 p.c yr on yr.
This surge is pushed by a sequence of visa-free entry and transit insurance policies China launched in 2024, together with repeatedly upgraded fee, transportation, and tourism services. Besides, the rising reputation of China as a journey vacation spot on social media, fueled by early vacationers sharing their experiences, has contributed to the rise.
In 2024, cross-border journeys to China by foreigners surged by 82.9 p.c from the earlier yr, reaching 64.88 million. Of these, greater than 20 million inbound international journeys had been made visa-free, marking a powerful improve of 112.3 p.c yr on yr, in accordance with the National Immigration Administration.
To meet a rise in guests from neighboring international locations, akin to Japan and the Republic of Korea, the Beijing tourism bureau and main tourism firms launched particular itineraries providing these vacationers a possibility to expertise a Beijing-style New Year celebration in simply two to a few days.
These short-haul itineraries took guests to vibrant temple festivals and conventional performances, whereas additionally giving them the possibility to savor Beijing’s winter delicacies and iconic dishes, akin to dumplings, hotpot, and Peking Duck.
“The Spring Festival is a window to understand China, especially its traditional culture,” stated Jiang Yiyi, an professional on leisure sports activities and tourism on the Beijing Sport University.
The inscription of the Spring Festival onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage checklist has considerably boosted its world profile. The quite a few conventional cultural actions held throughout China present international guests with an immersive expertise, permitting them to achieve a deeper understanding of Chinese conventional tradition, in accordance with Jiang.
Through these various actions, international guests can really expertise what British on-line influencer Shaun Gibson described in his video as a Spring Festival in China that’s “warm, lively, delicious, and happy.”