Foreigners savor flavors of Spring Festival in China

BEIJING -- "Guonian," which means "crossing the year," is more than just a festival marking the arrival of the new year for the Chinese people.

Though Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is now celebrated in many places worldwide, the true meaning of "Guonian" can only be fully understood by experiencing it in China.

"The celebration is big, stretching for a month with a lot of food, fireworks and cultural events," said Kayleen Fangbi from Belgium. "I love it."

Lanterns and fairy lights adorn every corner, while shops bustle with people laden with large shopping bags, as observed by a Spanish couple traveling in Beijing just days before Spring Festival, which fell on Jan 29 this year.

Spotting the snake-themed decorations, they decided to look up the meanings of the Chinese zodiac online and discovered that this year is the Year of the Snake. "One of us is a Horse, and the other is a Sheep," they noted, clearly finding it all quite fascinating.

Invitations to join in the celebration were shared via the Chinese lifestyle app rednote, with many Chinese netizens offering tips and local authorities promoting festive activities. The surge in activity comes as the app gains many users from the United States and other countries, following the US government's threat to ban TikTok.

With the trending hashtag "Chinese New Year," many foreigners shared about their Spring Festival celebrations virtually from wherever they were, with some expressing the joy of savoring an authentic experience of the holiday in China.

Beyond the traditional fireworks, decorations, dragon dances, and lion dances, Spring Festival celebrations across China feature distinct local traditions, each adding its unique flavor to the holiday. They all share common themes: family reunions and hope for good fortune in the year ahead.

The diverse social practices throughout the Chinese New Year celebrations, recently listed as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, offer international visitors a rich array of experiences during this period.

In the Chaoshan region of South China's Guangdong province, the traditional Yingge dance adds a vibrant New Year atmosphere to the celebrations. Videos showcasing the dance have garnered millions of views, drawing many travelers to spend Spring Festival in the area.

The dancers, dressed in colorful costumes that represent ancient heroes and heroines, hold short wooden sticks and perform rhythmic movements, such as swinging the sticks, striking them together, and stamping their feet.

"I was completely captivated by the strength and precision of their movements, the rhythmic sounds of their stomping and sticks clashing, and their powerful shouts of encouragement," said Thanita Raemee from Thailand, after watching Yingge Dance performances.

It's said that when the lanterns in Yuyuan Garden light up, Spring Festival begins in Shanghai, one of the top destinations for foreign visitors in China.

After strolling through the winding corridors and pavilions, a German tourist bought numerous Chinese New Year-themed souvenirs in Yuyuan Garden. "I want to bring the festive blessings to my friends back home," she said.

"A major change is that foreign tourists mostly just walked around in the past, but now they bring real spending power," said Hu Junjie, vice-president of Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart (Group) Co., Ltd., adding that they are particularly interested in the lantern displays, traditional Chinese makeup and costumes, special cuisine, and cultural products.

Tatiana, 70, a visitor from Russia on a trip to the city of Sanya in the southern island province of Hainan, said that she and her daughter came specifically to experience Spring Festival.

At a local event, she eagerly took part in interactive activities. "Writing the Chinese character 'Fu (meaning blessing)' with a calligraphy brush was such a unique experience," she said. They also enjoyed watching traditional Chinese cultural performances, including the unique Li and Miao ethnic folk dances of Hainan.

Russia remains Hainan's largest source of international tourists and a key market for Sanya's inbound tourism. The resumption and opening of international flight routes and visa-free policy have attracted more Russian tourists to the island.

China expects a boom in international visitors during this Spring Festival holiday. Data from Trip.com Group shows that inbound tourism orders for the 2025 Spring Festival rose over 30 percent year on year.

Data released by the Chinese travel services platform Qunar showed that as of Jan 28, the number of domestic flights booked during Spring Festival by travelers with non-Chinese passports has increased by 70 percent year on year.

This surge is driven by a series of visa-free entry and transit policies China introduced in 2024, along with continuously upgraded payment, transportation, and tourism facilities. Besides, the growing popularity of China as a travel destination on social media, fueled by early travelers sharing their experiences, has contributed to the increase.

In 2024, cross-border trips to China by foreigners surged by 82.9 percent from the previous year, reaching 64.88 million. Of these, more than 20 million inbound foreign trips were made visa-free, marking an impressive increase of 112.3 percent year on year, according to the National Immigration Administration.

To meet an increase in visitors from neighboring countries, such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, the Beijing tourism bureau and leading tourism companies launched special itineraries offering these travelers an opportunity to experience a Beijing-style New Year celebration in just two to three days.

These short-haul itineraries took visitors to vibrant temple fairs and traditional performances, while also giving them the chance to savor Beijing's winter delicacies and iconic dishes, such as dumplings, hotpot, and Peking Duck.

"Spring Festival is a window to understand China, especially its traditional culture," said Jiang Yiyi, an expert on leisure sports and tourism at the Beijing Sport University.

The inscription of Spring Festival onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list has significantly boosted its global profile. The numerous traditional cultural activities held across China provide foreign visitors with an immersive experience, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese traditional culture, according to Jiang.

Through these diverse activities, foreign visitors can truly experience what British online influencer Shaun Gibson described in his video as a Spring Festival in China that is "warm, lively, delicious, and happy."