During the 2026 Spring Festival holiday (February 15 to 23), Beijing's cultural and tourism market saw strong visitor flows, robust spending, a rich festive atmosphere, tech-infused elements, and international appeal. The city recorded a total of 19.843 million tourist visits, which generated 33.14 billion yuan in tourism revenue.

The top 10 destinations by number of visits are: Wangfujing, the Beijing Olympic Park, the Tian'anmen area, Xidan, the Liangma River International Waterfront, Qianmen Street, the Temple of Heaven Park, Shichahai Scenic Area, the Summer Palace, and Nanluoguxiang (South Luogu Lane).

Foreign tourists in Shichahai on February 20

[Photo by Li Muyi from The Beijing News]

The city hosted over 40 distinctive temple fairs, lantern festivals, and park fairs, setting new records in both quantity and scale. Highlighting the integration of Beijing-style Spring Festival traditions with tech-enabled experiences, these immersive events allowed visitors to tour temple fairs by day and admire lantern displays by night throughout the holiday. 

Time-honored brands saw surging sales, while interest in intangible cultural heritage-based experiences grew rapidly. Beijing's specialties like Daoxiangcun's pastries and Lord Rabbit-themed creative souvenirs proved especially popular among locals and tourists.

Parks across the city hosted over 200 ecological and cultural events, including park fairs and ice-and-snow activities, attracting a total of 12.585 million visits. Average daily footfall reached 1.3928 million, up 18.79 percent year on year. The Temple of Heaven Park, the Summer Palace, and Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park were the top choices, recording 1.2739 million, 1.1113 million, and 975,500 visits respectively during the holiday.

The festive ambiance in the rural regions grew even stronger. During the holiday, the "Beijing Outskirts" (漫游京郊) smart platform leveraged means such as short videos and livestreaming to promote suburban tourism destinations, garnering over 28 million views and directly leading to 31,000 confirmed orders, with total transaction value exceeding 10 million yuan.

Foreign tourists try local food at Yandai Xiejie Street on February 20. 

[Photo by Li Muyi from The Beijing News]

During the holiday, Beijing's inbound tourism market continued to boom, receiving tour groups from the United Kingdom, Australia, and many other countries and regions. The year 2026 marks a crucial period for Beijing's efforts to establish itself as a global tourism destination and the top choice for inbound travelers to China. This year, Beijing is expected to welcome 10,000 Australian visitors. In June, over 200 international tour operators will visit the city, followed by more than 200 from North America in August, for research and site visits to explore the latest tourism products and resources.

Festive goods, local delicacies, and distinctive performances from across China were showcased at the festive events in areas such as the Chaowai business district, Longtan, and Ditan (Temple of Earth). The "Beijing gifts" Spring Festival collection, which consists of 26 items, together with four specially designed New Year gift sets, enjoyed strong sales, which exceeded 10 million yuan.

A total of 2,190 sessions of commercial performances were staged across the city, attracting approximately 410,000 attendances and generating around 64.015 million yuan in box office revenue. These included a splendid array of outstanding Chinese and foreign productions, such as Chinese New Year-themed concerts, ballet, folk art, and acrobatics.

Multiple visitor-friendly measures were taken at popular attractions. Ticketing platforms saw 16,000 newly registered users. Public cultural institutions across the city, including cultural centers/halls at all levels, organized 769 sessions of cultural activities, welcoming nearly 1.5 million visits.

(Sources: Beijing Daily, The Beijing News)