Shanghai Launches "Spring Festival Gift Packs" With Discounts And Cultural Experiences For The Chinese Lunar New Year

As the Year of the Horse approaches, Shanghai is rolling out a series of "Spring Festival Gift Packs" designed to make it easier and more enjoyable for residents and visitors to experience the city during the holiday period. The initiative, led by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, features discounted tickets, themed activities, and cultural offerings across 60 popular city attractions.

The gift packs are part of Shanghai's broader push to boost festive tourism and encourage people to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year in the city. By combining discounted admission, zodiac-themed promotions, and integrated tour packages, the program seeks to provide a wide range of affordable options tailored to different visitor groups.

Highlights of the Spring Festival Gift Packs include:

Attraction Discounts : Participating scenic spots are offering tickets at up to 50% off, along with special promotions based on the Chinese zodiac and combo passes, making sightseeing more affordable for families, tourists, and locals alike.

Cultural & Festive Activities : The discounts are complemented by a rich lineup of supporting events, including intangible cultural heritage performances, interactive pet-themed activities for the Chinese Lunar New Year, traditional market fairs, and bazaars featuring China-chic trends -- all crafted to enhance the festive atmosphere.

Integrated Experience Packages : Many venues are bundling accommodation with entry tickets or themed tours, creating convenient and cost-effective ways to explore Shanghai during the holiday period.

Themed Tourism Products : Travel agencies and hotels have curated itineraries with a "Spring Festival vibe" and activities for "Spring Celebration" that cover family-friendly, cultural, and rural leisure experiences, providing multiple options for holiday outings.

The gift packs initiative aligns with the ongoing "Discover Shanghai" Tourism Guide Super Competition, which has inspired practical and innovative tour recommendations now being developed into actual tourism products. The competition's winning guides are expected to be widely used by visitors during the Spring Festival.

Industry observers note that Shanghai continues to strengthen its appeal as a winter destination by combining affordability with cultural depth. The Spring Festival Gift Packs not only make travel more economical but also immerse visitors in the local customs and vibrant spirit of Shanghai during the most important traditional holiday in China.

The offers will be available throughout the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday period, with detailed information accessible through official tourism platforms such as "Hu Xiaoyou" and Trip.com. Through this Spring Festival Gift Packs Initiative, Shanghai demonstrates its commitment to creating a welcoming, dynamic, and visitor-friendly holiday environment, inviting everyone to enjoy a memorable and affordable Chinese Lunar New Year in the city.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism

China Kicks Off Lunar New Year Travel Rush, Expects Record 9 Billion Trips

China on Friday kicked off its busiest annual period of mass migration with a record 9 billion domestic trips expected to be made during a 40-day travel rush around the Lunar New Year holidays, state media predicted.

That would be nearly double the 4.7 billion trips made during the so-called Spring Festival travel rush in 2023 when ultra-strict COVID-19 restrictions were abolished.

Millions of people will travel back to their home towns to reunite with families for the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10 this year, in the world's largest mass migration each year.

About 80% of the 9 billion trips will be self-driving road trips, also a record, with the rest by rail, air, and water, Chinese state television CCTV reported.

Nearly 11 million train trips, the main mode of transportation in China, are expected on Friday. A total of 480 million trips will be made nationwide during the 40-day period, a 38% jump from 2023 and up 17% from 2019 before the pandemic.

Both railway travel and air travel skyrocketed on the first day of this year's rush. Passengers struggled to get train tickets, even though China is home to the world's largest high-speed network.

Miranda Guo, a 25-year-old cartoonist from a Hangzhou-based Chinese technology firm, was lucky to have secured a seat on a bullet train to Jinan. But that was only after forking out an additional 60 yuan, 13% of the ticket price, on an "accelerator package" offered by third-party booking apps.

"I think it's hard to buy a ticket this year, with almost all my colleagues failing to get tickets. Many of them are still on waiting lists," Guo said.

Air passenger trips are estimated to reach 2 million on Friday, CCTV reported. During this year's travel rush, the number of trips made by air are expected to surge to 80 million, per China's aviation regulator, up 9.8% from 2019.

Airports in China's biggest cities Beijing and Shanghai will brace for heavy crowds.

Shanghai's two airports Pudong and Hongqiao expect passenger traffic to surge 57.6% on year in the 40-day period while Beijing's airports will see a more than 60% jump. Overseas travel will also rise during the travel peak.
China's aviation authorities have arranged more than 2,500 additional international flights to Asian destinations including Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.

Additional railway and flights are also arranged for popular domestic tourism cities including Harbin in northeast China and Sanya, a popular tropical destination in the south.

Reporting by Albee Zhang, Qiaoyi Li and Ryan Woo; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan