Folklore events held across China to celebrate of Year of Snake

People across China are enthusiastically taking part in folklore events to appreciate the festive performances and captivating sceneries around the country as nationwide scenic areas offer thoughtfully designed activities to heighten joyous atmosphere for anticipating visitors.

As the first Chinese New Year arriving after the successful inscription of the Spring Festival on the UNESCO list in December, the Year of the Snake witnessed a series of cultural activities, including folk performances, being presented across China to celebrate the special occasion.

In Huzhou City of east China's Zhejiang Province, scenic areas showcased a slew of intangible cultural heritage folk performances to attract Spring Festival spectators.

The similar scenes were on in Tianshui City, northwest China's Gansu Province, with exciting shows being rolled out in Spring Festival markets.

In southwest China's Sichuan Province, Langzhong ancient town launched a series of performances to showcase local intangible cultural heritage and folk arts, inviting spectators to experience the charm of traditional culture.

"The festive atmosphere here is very strong. The intangible cultural heritage shows and the folk performances were also fantastic. Traveling to Langzhong ancient town and experiencing the festive atmosphere here gave special meaning to my Spring Festival," said Liu Ting, a tourist.

The just-concluded 2025 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala also became a brand for cities like Chongqing and Lhasa, where a splendid sub-venue was set and became popular among tourists after the grand celebration was broadcast live nationwide on Tuesday.

"I visit Chongqing because one of the sub-venues of the 2025 CMG Spring Festival Gala was set here. I saw the main stage, which is really spectacular, and the views along the Jialing River are also impressive," said Lin Chen, another tourist.

Another sub-venue set before the Potala Palace, a landmark of Lhasa City, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, also gained increasing popularity among tourists, with the number of visitors to the iconic scenic spot increasing by 21 percent year over year.

In Longyan City, east China's Fujian Province, series of festivities such as lantern fairs heightened joyous atmosphere for tourists who are lucky enough to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Snake in characteristic folk performances.

Folklore events held across China to celebrate of Year of Snake

China's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continued to post steady and positive growth in 2025, with value-added output of industrial SMEs above the designated size rising 6.9 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The update was released at a State Council Information Office press conference on industrial and information technology development held on Wednesday, where Zhang Yunming, the ministry's vice minister, outlined the high-quality development progresses of SMEs in 2025.

"In 2025, the value-added output of industrial SMEs above the designated size rose by 6.9 percent year on year, while the SME export index reached 52.4 percent in December, continued the steady expansion for 21 consecutive months," he said.

Over the past year, China has cumulatively nurtured 17,600 specialized and innovative “little giant” enterprises, more than 140,000 specialized and innovative SMEs, and more than 600,000 technology- and innovation-oriented SMEs. These “little giant” enterprises have an average research and development investment intensity of 7 percent, with a total of 460,000 invention patents, averaging 26.6 per enterprise, highlighting strong innovation capacity.

"Authorities will formulate a dedicated plan to promote SME development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. We will fully implement regulations aimed at ensuring timely payments to SMEs, intensify efforts to clear overdue payments while resolutely curbing new arrears, and better protect the legitimate rights and interests of SMEs. Revisions to SME classification standards will also be accelerated to improve the precision and effectiveness of policy support," Zhang said.

Further measures will focus on building mechanisms to support the growth of specialized and innovative SMEs to produce novel and unique products, establishing the first group of national SME public service demonstration platforms and bases, and rolling out a three-year action plan for tiered cultivation of high-quality enterprises. China will also explore the creation of specialized and innovative empowerment centers for SMEs, improve the tiered development system for SME-focused industrial clusters, and promote coordinated and integrated development among large, medium and small enterprises, he added.

China's major SMEs register positive annual growth in 2025