During the 2026 Spring Festival holiday (February 15 to 23), Beijing's cultural and tourism market stood out for a vibrant atmosphere, robust spending, rich festive traditions, tech-infused elements, and international appeal. The city recorded a total of 19.843 million visits by tourists, generating 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 tour events, setting new records in both quantity and scale. Highlighting the integration of Beijing-style Spring Festival traditions with technological experiences, these immersive festive feasts allowed visitors to "tour temple fairs by day and admire lantern displays by night" throughout the holiday. 

Time-honored brands saw their sales volume grow considerably, while intangible cultural heritage-based experiences gained greater popularity, with Beijing's specialties like Daoxiangcun's pastries and Lord Rabbit-themed creative souvenirs favored by both locals and tourists.

Parks across the city hosted over 200 ecological and cultural events, including tour events and ice-and-snow events, resulting in a total of 12.585 million visits, with an average daily footfall of 1.3928 million, marking an 18.79-percent increase 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 live streams to showcase suburban destinations, garnering over 28 million views and directly leading to 31,000 confirmed orders and a 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, with 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 trips to China". This year, Beijing will welcome 10,000 Australian visitors. In June, over 200 international tour operators will visit the city to explore the latest tourism products and resources, followed by more than 200 North American tour operators in August for research and inspections.

Festive goods and delicacies, along with distinctive performances from across China, were featured 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, and four specially designed New Year gift sets sold remarkably well, with total sales exceeding 10 million yuan.

A total of 2,190 sessions of commercial performances were launched across the city, attracting approximately 410,000 views and achieving box office revenues of around 64.015 million yuan. A splendid array of outstanding Chinese and foreign performances, including Chinese New Year-themed concerts, and shows of ballet, folk art, and acrobatics, was staged in turn.

Multiple visitor-friendly measures were taken at popular attractions, with ticketing platforms seeing 16,000 new registered users. Public cultural institutions across the city, including cultural centers/halls at all levels, organized 769 sessions of cultural activities, resulting in nearly 1.5 million visits.

(Sources: Beijing Daily, The Beijing News)