CGTN: China's Spring Festival: Record-breaking travel, intangible cultural feast

BEIJING, Jan. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At 5:30 a.m., Wang Hui, a woman traveling with her family, is waiting at Shenzhen North Railway Station to board the first high-speed train from south China's Shenzhen City to northwest China's Xi'an City, which departs at 6:08 a.m.

A mother and permanent resident in the metropolis, Wang explained that, despite building a life in Shenzhen, she always yearns for her hometown, especially during the Spring Festival.

"I've been in Shenzhen since university, and now I have my own family, but every year, as the Spring Festival approaches, I can't help but feel the pull of home," she said, smiling despite the early hour and the long journey ahead.

Another traveler, surnamed Zhong, was heading back to her hometown in Chenzhou, central China's Hunan Province. Having lived in Shenzhen for more than a decade, she said the city's rapid growth had never lessened her feelings of homesickness during the Spring Festival.

"I've planned this trip for a month. The Spring Festival is when you want to be with family and embrace the traditions that connect us," Zhong said.

Hit the road

The Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun, is underway across China, as millions, like Wang and Zhong, embark on long journeys to reunite with family for the most significant holiday of the year.

This year's travel rush began on January 14 and will last until February 22, spanning 40 days. Authorities are expecting an unprecedented nine billion inter-regional trips during this period. By January 19, over 1 billion inter-regional trips had already been made, according to transportation authorities.

According to Ctrip, one of China's leading online travel agencies, most travelers depart from first-tier cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing and Hangzhou, and Harbin, Chongqing and Chengdu are among the most popular tourist destinations.

For millions of travelers, the Spring Festival is about more than just family reunion. It's about reconnecting with the cultural roots that define the holiday. As they head home for the reunion dinner, they are not only making a physical journey but also participating in a broader movement to preserve and celebrate China's rich cultural heritage.

Celebrating cultural heritage

For many Chinese, the heart of the Spring Festival lies in family reunion. However, getting together with family is just the beginning, with numerous traditions following suit.

Shopping for festival goods, pasting Spring Festival couplets, giving red envelopes (hongbao), lighting fireworks, hanging lanterns and staying up on New Year's Eve (shousui) are all key customs.

Another tradition is watching the Spring Festival Gala, or chunwan. This annual TV art show, which has been broadcast since 1983, remains a centerpiece of the celebrations. The four-and-a-half-hour program features a mix of singing, dancing, opera, sketch comedy, crosstalks, martial arts and acrobatics. As the first gala since the Spring Festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, this year's event integrates more elements of this cultural legacy.

Beyond the gala, intangible cultural heritage (ICT) is taking center stage in various aspects of the holiday. In Chongqing, one of the city's cultural shops, run by a man surnamed Guo, has seen a surge in sales of traditional items like paper-cutting, shadow puppetry and New Year paintings. "More people are seeking unique, handmade gifts that reflect our heritage," Guo said.

ICT-themed tourism has also boomed. From learning traditional paper-cutting in Zhejiang Province to marveling at the Lantern Festival in Zigong City, people are flocking to destinations that offer immersive cultural experiences.

This trend is reflected in travel bookings, with regions known for ICT seeing an increase in tourist interest. Data from Meituan Travel, one of China's leading online services platforms, shows that searches for intangible cultural heritage experiences, such as the huohu (fire pot) performance in Guiyang and the Zigong Lantern Festival, have risen five-fold and twice respectively compared to previous years.

With the record-high chunyun unfolding, this year's Spring Festival not only involves an unprecedented number of travelers but also sees a boom in cultural consumption, fueling a vibrant tourism market and injecting new vitality into the country's economy.

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