Various activities held across China to welcome upcoming Spring Festival

With the Spring Festival just days away, regions across China are alive with festival markets and booming consumer activities, highlighting the diversity of local culture and the holiday spirit.

The Spring Festival, which marks the start of a new year in the Chinese lunar calendar, is the biggest annual holiday in China, and sees people across the country return to their hometowns to celebrate with their families and friends. This year, it falls on Jan 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

On Wednesday, a grand lantern fair with over 100 sets of creative lanterns of varying sizes lighted up the Beijing Garden Expo Park in the city's Fengtai District. The event, combined with a temple fair, offers visitors an immersive experience of traditional Chinese culture amidst the vibrant Spring Festival atmosphere.

At the Huizhou ancient town in Shexian County of Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, large red lanterns with decorative gold tassels are hung on city walls and throughout the streets and alleys.

Meanwhile, red cultural decorations including Spring Festival couplets, Fu characters and red chili peppers can be seen along the Wujiang River in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, creating an auspicious festive vibe.

Elsewhere in the country, local residents in Zezhou County, north China's Shanxi Province, are busy preparing "sugar melons", a local specialty made with malt that can only be produced in the coldest months, creating a festive atmosphere for the Little New Year, or Xiaonian in Mandarin, which typically falls a week before the Spring Festival. This year, it is celebrated on Wednesday in northern China and Thursday in the south.

People in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province also gathered around the traditional Chinese kang, or heatable adobe sleeping platform, enjoying malt candy, and creating paper-cuttings to gear up for the Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile, an annual festival market, which boasts a nearly 300-year history, was held in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday. An extensive array of festival goods offered at the market attracted visitors from far and wide.

"The festive atmosphere is quite strong. Let's experience the festive vibe together during the Little New Year and welcome the Chinese New Year," said Zheng Bowen, a resident in Ningbo.

Cities across China have also launched a series of activities, offering people the chance to savor the joys of the Spring Festival by experiencing intangible cultural heritages. In Shunde District of south China's Guangdong Province, sweet oranges, symbolizing "good luck" have been harvested in abundance. In several landmark commercial districts of Shanghai, many fairs have showcased a variety of national-level intangible cultural heritages, including the Yingge dance and bench dragon dance performances.

Tianjin Ancient Culture Street, an ancient gathering place for business and trade in northern China's Tianjin is adorned with festivities. Vibrant intangible cultural heritage performances shown there, such as Peking Opera, dragon dances, and lion dances, have also attracted throngs of tourists.

"The sound of gongs and drums truly evokes the festive spirit of the Spring Festival. This year marks the first year since the Spring Festival's inscription on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. We're really proud and super happy," said Yang Hui, a resident in Tianjin.

Various activities held across China to welcome upcoming Spring Festival

The Chinese animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 began preview screenings in London on Friday ahead of its official release in the country and Ireland on March 21, attracting excited crowds to watch the film in advance.

The film made its debut in the UK at London's BFI IMAX, home to the country's largest IMAX screen and is scheduled to screen in over 250 cinemas of 100 cities across the UK and Ireland during the first week of release.

The film's Europe-wide distributor, Trinity CineAsia, announced that it has acquired theatrical distribution rights for Ne Zha 2 across 37 countries in Europe, including the UK, Ireland, and Germany. This scale of film release is exceptionally rare in the history of overseas distribution for Chinese-language films, reflecting the strong confidence of local cinemas in the movie's market potential.

"The fact that it is here and, you know, that we are getting a lot more influx of films from all across Asia from China, South Korea, Japan, South Asia as well. I think it's really good to kind of like widen the palate, because we all want to escape our little cinematic bubble and see what the rest of the world has to offer," said Jack Martin, a film reviewer, in an interview with the China Central Television (CCTV).

"Ne Zha 2" has shattered global box office records to become the No. 1 box office animated film of all times and also the first non-Hollywood production to crack the global all-time top 10 box office chart.

Rooted in 16th-century Chinese mythology with a bold reinterpretation, the movie has attracted attention of global audiences with its stunning visuals, well-crafted storytelling, and deep cultural heritage.

"And I think all these elements show that Ne Zha 2 is both a film that's modern, but also has its roots in something very deep and very ancient," said Cedric Behrel, managing director of Trinity CineAsia, in an interview with the CCTV.

Many audiences attending the preview screening in London have shared their thoughts about the movie in interviews with the CCTV.

"It was moving like heartwarming. Yes, I'll go home now and talk to it to all my friends," said a moviegoer.

"I thought that the humor of the film was really great, but it balances so perfectly with some of the more dramatic and heartfelt moments of it. And yeah, I really, really enjoyed it. And the language barrier was not a problem at all," said another moviegoer.

"We might not speak the same language, but at its heart is a very universal theme of friendship and just trying to do right in the world. And I think that a lot of people really resonate with that. I can see why it's done so well in China already," said Jack Martin.

James Smith, an social media influencer, shared his views about the movie in Chinese language during the interview. He thought the movie can serve as a bridge for foreigners to understand Chinese culture.

"I watched Ne Zha, the 2019 box office hit, in China. When I heard that its sequel was set to debut in the UK today, I rushed to the cinema to see it. It's definitely a great movie, filled with humor, touching moments, and encouragement. My friends often ask me how they can better understand China, because they think I know something about the country. I would say that you can watch the Ne Zha 2, as I believe it's a great film and through which you can learn something about Chinese culture," he said.

Ne Zha 2 begins preview screenings in London, captivating local audiences