Travellers flock to China for Year of the Horse Spring Festival

BEIJING: With the Year of the Horse on the horizon, more international tourists are joining China s traditional Spring Festival festivities. From t...

BEIJING: With the Year of the Horse on the horizon, more international tourists are joining China’s traditional Spring Festival festivities.

From the vibrant streets of Shanghai to the historic stilt houses of central China’s Hunan, the Spring Festival, which falls on February 17 this year, has evolved into a global cultural event, triggering a surge in inbound tourism.

Data from major travel platforms indicate that in the weeks leading up to the festival, flight bookings by foreign tourists skyrocketed by over 400 percent year on year.

The surge in visitors is largely fueled by enhanced visa-free and travel facilitation measures. Latest data show that in 2025, China expanded its unilateral visa-free access, allowing citizens of 48 countries to enter without a visa, while the number of countries offering reciprocal visa exemptions rose to 29.

While traditional hubs like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou remain favorites, the map of “China Chic” is expanding. Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province, and Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, have seen visitor numbers quadruple.