The clusters of tulou communal residential earthen buildings in Longyan always attract lots of visitors. [Photo/Longyan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism]

During Spring Festival, East China's Fujian province hosted a wide variety of great cultural and tourism activities to celebrate Chinese New Year with style.

With over 1,880 events, the province received 36.02 million tourists during the break, generating total tourism expenditure estimated at 30.86 billion yuan ($4.24 billion).

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) has played a significant role in Fujian's Spring Festival celebrations, with themed events showcasing the province's rich cultural traditions.

Quanzhou and Putian cities organized special events and cultural activities, including a type of festive parade called caijie, where people dress up to sing and dance on a street decorated with lanterns and colored banners, drawing millions of visitors to experience Fujian's many appealing charms. The Wuyi Mountain tea-themed ICH tour also became part of national ICH tourism routes.

High-quality cultural performances were a real highlight, reaching grassroots communities through over 600 shows staged by State-owned art troupes, attracting more than 1.17 million audience. Public cultural events, such as village songs, Spring Festival village galas, music performances and street exhibitions, were held across the province.

These totaled over 1,000 shows, allowing residents and tourists to experience Fujian's cultural richness through art.

Elsewhere, Fujian leveraged cutting-edge technologies to enhance visitor experiences, with attractions like the Fujian Museum and Fuzhou's Three Lanes and Seven Alleys offering XR immersive exhibitions and AI displays. The Horror Stories of Tang Dynasty China-chic immersive theater saw over a million trips.

Moreover, the province capitalized on digital technology to create cultural products based on Red culture symbols, transforming them into souvenirs and merchandise for visitors to purchase. Thirteen classic Red tourism destinations in the province saw a 6.1 percent increase in tourist visits.

Overseas tourism saw a significant increase during Spring Festival, with Fujian implementing measures to promote high-quality inbound tourism and publishing classic tourism routes to enhance visitor experiences.