Holiday crowds enjoy colorful activities across China

China

Holiday crowds enjoy colorful activities across China

2026-04-06 16:58 Last Updated At：17:37

From the cherry tomato fields of south China's Hainan Province to the misty peaks of Wuyishan in east China's Fujian Province, holidaymakers across China embraced the outdoors during the Qingming break.

Falling on April 5 this year, the Qingming Festival, or the Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese festival for honoring the deceased and paying tributes to ancestors. The three-day holiday from Saturday to Monday also provides a short break for Chinese citizens to enjoy outdoor activities and sightseeing in pleasant springtime temperatures.

At a cherry tomato base in Tanli Village, Ding'an City of Hainan, tourists, in small groups carrying baskets, fully immersed themselves in the joy of picking.

This year, Ding'an County has planted cherry tomatoes across 10,000 mu (about 666.67 hectares) of land. The area has now entered the peak harvest period, with a daily harvest volume of 300,000 kilograms. The mature fruit industry has also enabled local villagers to find employment and increase their incomes close to home.

It is known that the sorting process alone employs over 100 people daily, all recruited from nearby villages, with each worker earning approximately 300 yuan (about 41.1 U.S. dollars) per day. The small cherry tomato has become a "sweet fruit" that helps boost local farmers' incomes and drives rural revitalization.

Wuyishan in Fujian Province is a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site. During this Qingming holiday, Wuyishan is bathed in gentle spring sunshine and lush greenery. Fresh green leaves are spreading across the mountains, and flowers are blooming one after another, attracting tourists from across the country for spring outings.

At the popular scenic spot, Jiuqu Stream, tourists boarded bamboo rafts and drifted along the emerald waters, enjoying the magnificent peaks on both banks and experiencing the breathtaking scenery.

"I drove here from Xiamen yesterday. I think the scenery in Wuyishan is particularly charming," said a tourist surnamed Huang.

In addition to water tours, many tourists choose to hike along mountain trails, experiencing the changing seasons of Wuyishan amid the forests.

In the 300-meter-long Song Dynasty Street where buildings are designed to emulate Song Dynasty architecture, tourists strolled leisurely, sipping tea and tasting local snacks, immersing themselves in the cultural and historical atmosphere of Wuyishan.

Shenzhou-23 astronauts enter Tiangong space station, meet Shenzhou-21 crew

The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou-23 spaceship have entered the country's Tiangong space station and met with their astronaut colleagues early Monday morning, as they now begin an in-orbit crew handover.

Mission commander Zhu Yangzhu and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying successfully entered the station's core module Tianhe after the spaceship made a fast automated rendezvous and docked with the Tianhe module at 02:45 (Beijing Time) on Monday.

The three Shenzhou-21 crew members opened the hatch at 05:13 (Beijing Time) and greeted the new arrivals, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The six astronauts then took group pictures for the eighth in-orbit get-together in China's aerospace history.

Notably, one of the Shenzhou-23 crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

The Shenzhou-23 spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 23:08 (Beijing Time) on Sunday.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.