An increasing number of foreign tourists are coming to China to immerse themselves in the holiday's vibrant atmosphere and rich cultural traditions during this year's Spring Festival.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian highlighted that the number of inbound flight bookings for the festive period more than quintupled year-on-year as of Feb 6.
The Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, falls on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar and involves a variety of social practices to usher in the new year, pray for good fortune, celebrate family reunions and promote community harmony.
This year, it falls on on Feb 17, ushering in the Year of the Horse, the seventh animal in the Chinese zodiac.
As the most important festival in the Chinese culture, it is drawing an increasing level of international interests and recognition.
"We're here to visit friends and relatives. I am not sure about what we are gonna do but I'm sure there's a lot of eating going on," said a tourist from the U.S.
"To see the Chinese [New] Year in Shanghai, to eat and to see the Chinese market," a Spanish visitor said.
Meanwhile, data from a travel platform showed that over the past month, ticket orders by overseas tourists for intangible cultural heritage events, such as traditional lantern fairs and Peking Opera performances, surged more than sixfold compared to the same period of last year.
Hotel booking records underscored the trend, with nearly one in three guests during the Spring Festival identified as foreign visitors.
"As of Friday morning, Shanghai's immigration authorities had processed 594,000 inbound foreign visitors this year, up 38.5 percent year on year. The top source countries include the Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States and Thailand," said Shan Chengfei, a border inspection official from Shanghai.
The Spring Festival has been inscribed into the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO in 2024.
Inbound tourism booms as overseas visitors flock to experience Chinese New Year
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
