Shanghai welcomed a surge of international visitors during this year's Spring Festival period, with foreign travelers keen to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year, sample a range of delicious local delicacies and enjoy a spot of souvenir shopping. The Spring Festival, China's largest annual celebration marking the Chinese New Year, landed on Feb. 17 this year, ushering in the Year of the Horse.
The holiday is a peak time for travel and tourism within China, and thanks to expanded visa-free policies, more and more international visitors are able to come and join in the fun.
Cementing its role as China's premier gateway for inbound tourism, Shanghai welcomed many overseas tourists during the nine-day Spring Festival holiday, injecting significant energy into the city's consumption market.
At the Yuyuan Garden, one of Shanghai's top tourism landmarks, a dazzling Horse-themed lantern exhibition drew in crowds, resulting in extended queues at attractions such as the famous "nine-turn" or "zigzag bridge", which winds its way through the gardens.
According to data from travel platforms such as Fliggy and Ctrip, the number of bookings by international visitors to China during the Spring Festival period this year has surged by over 400 percent compared to last year.
These increased figures were also noticed by the popular Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, which serves up some favorite Shanghai snacks.
"Throughout the Spring Festival period, the number of foreign tourists was up by about five percent to six percent from last year," said You Yumin, the restaurant's joint general manager.
Inside the restaurant, many foreign diners said they simply couldn't get enough of the food.
"It's amazing, very good. Actually, the shrimp and pork dumplings -- so, so good. It just explodes in your mouth. Lots of favor, very authentic flavor. So very happy that we came here. It was worth the wait," a visitor from the United States.
Shanghai specialties, including the "White Rabbit" creamy candy, chocolates, and butterfly cookies have also emerged as highly sought-after souvenirs among international visitors.
"Very interesting place, but we have been here a long time ago and we are coming every year. We buy some little things, little stuff for the kids or for souvenir to bring back to France," said a tourist from France.
"We bought this, the 'old taste of Shanghai'. We tried everything because we like it and we want to give it as a gift to all our friends. We want to bring it over to Europe," said a German visitor.
Shanghai sees surge of int'l visitors as tourists sample snacks, snap up souvenirs
