Various folk activities have been held in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and southwest China's Yunnan Province to celebrate the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival.
The Spring Festival, China's most important holiday marked by family reunions, festive foods and New Year wishes, fell on Tuesday this year. The nine-day holiday period starting from Sunday is now in full swing.
In a park in Xinjiang's Manas County, folk dancers dressed in traditional clothes presented a captivating show, drawing viewers to join during the holiday.
In addition to performances, nice local food was also prepared to treat visitors.
"This place is bustling with people, just like what I saw during the Spring Festival when I was a child. It's cheerful. It's really great. And people can enjoy ethnic specialty -- dishes cooked in large pots, which taste pretty good," said Cai Linghua, a tourist.
Various performances were also held to entertain travelers in Yunnan's Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture during the holiday.
Local people from the Lisu ethnic group in traditional clothes gathered to sing folk songs along the Nujiang river.
Another breathtaking performance was knife-ladder-climbing, in which participants climbed a structure made of wooden planks affixed with sharp knives.
"It is made of knives. It is dozens of meters high. People climb up step by step, and every step is a knife. It's spectacular. It is the first time I have ever seen anything like this," said Guo Yun, a tourist.
China's Xinjiang, Yunnan embrace Spring Festival with various folk activities
Northeast China's Harbin city, dubbed the country's Ice City, is rolling out creative tourism experiences during the Chinese New Year holiday from Sunday to Feb 23, attracting tourists from around the world.
One of the city's most attractive innovation is a themed train offering free makeup, costume rental, photo shoots and even free photo editing, creating an immersive travel experience.
Many members of the photography team are train conductors who have been professionally trained to provide these services while off-duty hours. This creative concept has drawn much interest from travelers.
"When we first started, our team was very small. I was the make-up artist, and we only had one photographer and one editor," said Su Ruiqi, a train conductor from Harbin Passenger Transport Section of China Railway Harbin Group
But this year, with more passengers and surging demand, the team has expanded, Su said.
These special trains are seeing a growing influx of visitors, with tickets often sold out.
"The train has a capacity of 285 passenger, and almost every trip is fully booked. It is hard to get the tickets," said Zhou Hangyu, a train police officer.
This type of tourism is part of China's broader push to create new consumption scenarios and upgrade existing ones to drive spending. Its appeal isn't limited to domestic travelers. Visitors like Xu Xiuting, who flew from Colombia, have put the train on their must-do list. "I am quite satisfied. The photo-shoot team is very warm and welcoming," said she said.
Creativity has long been at the heart of Harbin's tourism industry. The Harbin Ice and Snow World, the world's largest ice and snow theme park, stands as a prime example. Rebuilt entirely each winter, the park continues to evolve, blending massive ice architecture with new science and technology.
This year, the park unveiled a series of ice sculptures featuring real fish naturally frozen inside.
"(These are real fish) frozen inside the ice. It may look ordinary and simple to us, but it actually involves some advanced science and technology," said Sun Zemin, deputy director of marketing department of Harbin Ice-Snow World Park Co., Ltd.
Usually, the artificial ice turns cloudy, but these ice blocks are crystal clear, and the fish are suspended right in the center of the ice, he added.
Harbin rolls out creative tourism experiences for Spring Festival holiday
