Folk customs gain popularity across China as Spring Festival nears

As the Chinese New Year approaches, traditional folk performances and intangible cultural heritage products are seeing a surge in popularity across China, adding a vibrant cultural touch to the festive atmosphere.

In Xianning City, central China’s Hubei Province, the dragon dance performance recently made its 2026 debut in local Village. This local tradition, boasting a history of over 270 years and passed down through nine generations, sees villagers welcoming the "dragon" with firecrackers to pray for good fortune.

"Welcoming the 'dragon' into our homes and having it stay for a while is our way of praying for a bountiful harvest and for everything to go smoothly in the coming year," said Liu Jun, a local resident.

In northern China’s Shanxi Province, the tradition of making "hua mo," steamed flower buns, remains a staple of the holiday. At a steamed flower bun workshop in Wenxi County, shop owner Fan Shubo has been busy making buns that integrate horse-themed designs, and blend traditional techniques with auspicious symbols for the new year.

"With the Spring Festival just around the corner, we have prepared 'Year of the Horse' gift sets. For example, this piece features small horses forming the numbers '2026.' The colors are vibrant," said Fan.

In east China's Anhui Province, at a handicraft company in Linquan County of Fuyang City, artisans are fully focused on creating gourd pyrography, a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage of Anhui. This year, horse-themed patterns have taken center stage in all their creations.

The combination of traditional craftsmanship and the zodiac theme has made these products an instant hit on the market. Her company has already received orders for 300,000 pieces, with the production schedule fully booked through late February.

"The horse carries a very positive meaning in Chinese culture. We designed these patterns to reflect that upward momentum. Our products are selling exceptionally well both online and offline. We are currently stepping up our creation and production to meet the demand of these orders," Han said.

Folk customs gain popularity across China as Spring Festival nears

Smart wearable devices are increasingly embedded in daily life in China, where booming sales of watches and smart glasses are reshaping the consumer electronics market.   In Beijing's Chaoyang District, smart watches have become a popular choice for shoppers seeking tools to monitor sleep, heart rate and stress.

"I often use my smart watch to monitor my sleep, heart rate, and stress. I hope it could also incorporate AI functions, allowing me to chat with it in-depth or help me complete some simple tasks," said a customer.

Beyond watches, smart glasses powered by large‑model technology are entering China's consumer market, reshaping the landscape of wearable electronics.

"It is more convenient to use smart glasses as earphones at work. This is my third pair of smart glasses, and the functions of the new one is much better than the previous ones," said a customer.

"Smart wearable devices have evolved significantly, shifting from simply displaying data to facilitating effective user interaction. As these product categories update at an accelerating pace and user demands grow increasingly diverse, manufacturers are compelled to accelerate their own cycles of innovation in both functional design and hardware configuration. Take smartwatches as an example: sales in this category have increased by more than 40 percent (compared to the same period in 2024)," said Zhang Jie, manager of Beijing Shuangjing Branch of JD Mall.

According to the latest worldwide quarterly wearable device tracker, in the first three quarters of 2025, global wrist-worn device shipments reached 150 million units, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent. 

Among them, China's cumulative shipments totaled 58.43 million units, representing a year-on-year growth of 27.6 percent. In the first half of 2025, the global smart glasses shipments reached 4.065 million units, a year-on-year increase of 64.2 percent, and China's cumulative shipments exceeded 1 million units.

China smart wearables growth fuels consumer electronics boom