China gears up for Spring Festival with colorful celebrations

With the Chinese New Year just around the corner, cities across China are hosting vibrant events to welcome the upcoming year.

The Spring Festival will fall on Feb 17 this year, ushering in the Year of the Horse, the seventh of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.

In Beijing, shopping malls and supermarkets are bringing in holiday markets, where red lanterns and fortune decorations create a joyful atmosphere. Some of the markets feature traditional products for the holiday such as Spring Festival couplets and other decorative items, while others offer a collection of global delicacies - from Thai durian to Spanish ham, to give give shoppers diverse holiday experiences.

"I'm doing some holiday shopping. I bought couplets, and this big persimmon toy symbolizing good luck, which I quite like. It's very creative," said Chang Guangcheng, a shopper.

Shanghai has launched over 2,000 cultural and tourism activities, including shows, intangible cultural heritage fairs and exhibitions. An indoor ski resort creatively staged a striking "Yingge dance on snow" show combining the southern China folk dance with ice and snow activities and performed by international performers.

"Overall visitor traffic increased by nearly 70 percent (since January). We expect the total visitor flow to the resort during this Spring Festival to increase by about 20 percent year-on-year," said Wang Xiaobo, a resort manager.

In the countryside, folk activities for Spring Festival are drawing visitors looking for a fresh experience. In Fujian Province's Pingnan County, villagers and tourists gathered on the 900-year-old Wan'an Bridge for a traditional banquet featuring dragon dances and folk singing - a custom preserved for over a century.

"So many people, all sitting together on this bridge in a lively atmosphere - it was the first time I'd ever experienced such a bustling scene. We enjoyed delicious food and had a great time," said Lin Huifang, a tourist.

Meanwhile, tourists attractions are staging Chinese New Year parades to draw holiday visitors. In Yunnan Province's Huize Ancient Town, a parade featuring activities visitors can participate created an imperative experience for travelers.

"I had a very fruitful day," said Zhao Yixun, a young girl.

"I won two prizes, which made me very happy," said another girl named Li Yuetong.

China gears up for Spring Festival with colorful celebrations

The first stage of the Long March-10 carrier rocket used in a flight test for China's crewed lunar exploration in future has been successfully fished out and retrieved from the sea, marking China's completion of its first-ever rocket first-stage booster maritime salvage and recovery mission.

According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, China successfully conducted a low-altitude demonstration and verification flight test of its Long March-10 carrier rocket and a maximum dynamic pressure abort flight test of its new-generation crewed spacecraft Mengzhou on Wednesday.

The success of the tests has provided valuable flight data and engineering experience for the crewed lunar exploration, said the office.

The Long March-10 carrier rocket is primarily used for crewed lunar exploration missions and supports operations of near-Earth space stations.

Long March-10's first stage retrieved from sea in China's first

Long March-10's first stage retrieved from sea in China's first