A series of grand performances embracing China's intangible cultural heritage, staged in anticipation of the upcoming Spring Festival, have ignited joyful spirits across the country and boosted domestic tourism.
The Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional holiday in China. This year, it falls on February 17, ushering in the Year of the Horse.
In Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, a series of Spring Festival folk activities has been rolled out.
Among the performances was a bench dragon dance, in which wooden benches are connected and filled with lanterns to form a long, flexible, and glowing dragon. Also featured were carp lantern parades, molten iron flower performances and fireworks shows, drawing visitors from across the country to experience the festive charm.
"I didn't expect to see so many intangible cultural heritage performances. They were truly impressive, especially the traditional Nuo opera, fish lantern parades and molten iron flower shows. They are very local and give a strong sense of bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new one. The Spring Festival atmosphere is really great," said a tourist named Tian Kexin.
Further east, a grand drone show lit up the night sky of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province on Saturday evening.
Some 700 drones rose into the air above Donghu Lake, continuously shifting formations to present vivid images, offering visitors a visually stunning, technology-driven spectacle.
In Taixing City, east China's Jiangsu Province, a unique and traditional fishing performance attracted visitors from neighboring cities. Alongside the waters, local people dressed in traditional clothes and danced to music as they pulled on a large net.
As part of the festivities, the fish that were caught during the performance were later enjoyed as food.
"It fills me with joy and brings back cherished childhood memories. Catching fish and hauling in the nets truly captures the spirit of the New Year," said local resident Zhao Yijie.
At a Spring Festival Intangible Cultural Heritage event in Taixing's Zhangqiao Town, children learned traditional sugar-figurine blowing techniques under the guidance of heritage inheritors, creating lifelike sugar horses.
Sugar painting experiences were also popular, with children posing for photos with their works to capture joyful moments of the 2026 Spring Festival.
Folk activities light up China ahead of Spring Festival
