Huishan Ancient Town is crowded with visitors during the Spring Festival holiday. [Photo provided to en.wuxi.gov.cn]
The 127 tourist attractions under monitoring in Wuxi received over 17.43 million visitors during the nine-day Spring Festival holiday, which ended on Feb 23, marking an increase of more than 11.2 percent year-on-year.
Data from UnionPay business shows that comprehensive cultural and tourism consumption during the holiday is expected to exceed 5.23 billion yuan ($761.42 million), up 17.07 percent year-on-year.
The consumer market was equally vibrant, with the 70 retail businesses and complexes monitored by the city's commerce bureau expected to achieve sales of 1.07 billion yuan during the Spring Festival holiday, up 8.2 percent year-on-year.
The holiday fully unleashed people's enthusiasm for travel. During the festival, Wuxi's scenic spots experienced a peak in visitors. Statistics show that attractions of Yuantouzhu, Huishan Ancient Town, Wuxi Zoo, Plum Garden, and Liyuan Garden collectively received 1.7 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 71 percent.
Huishan Ancient Town maintained its position as a top attraction, leading in visitor numbers during the Spring Festival holiday. On the third day of the Chinese New Year alone, the town welcomed 204,000 visitors, making morning queues and surrounding traffic control regular occurrences.
Within the ancient town, long lines formed in front of stalls offering intangible cultural heritage experiences, such as writing couplets, sugar blowing, and Huishan clay figurine-making. Performances like the welcome dance and nighttime dragon parades were held in succession, fully enhancing the traditional festive atmosphere.
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