Lantern festival drives tourism in Dalian Jinshitan

Ongoing New Year's tourism cultural festival integrates ancient cultures and modern design.

The 2019 Jinshitan New Year Tourism Cultural Festival and New Year Lantern Festival in Dalian, Liaoning province, is seen as a key way of promoting the traditional Chinese culture and bringing about peace, happiness and prosperity for the whole year, according to local officials.

The festival, lasting from Jan 28 to Feb 24 in the city's Jinshitan National Tourist Resort, exhibits more than 50 groups of lanterns, which took 120 craftsmen 45 days to make.

Shang Shuchen, director of the administrative committee of Dalian Jinshitan National Tourist Resort, said that the event integrates the local resources, combines various activities including linkage venues, hot springs, hotels, ice and snow and shooting, drives tourism in the slack season and boosts the development of local economy.

During the Spring Festival holiday period from Feb 4 to 10, the Jinshitan National Tourist Resort received more than 177,000 visitors from China and abroad, up 51 percent year-on-year. Overall sales hit 88 million yuan ($13 million), with ticket income recording 3.1 million yuan, an annual increase of 85 percent. The lantern festival received more than 55,000 visitors.

In China, the lantern symbolizes brightness, reunion, good luck and wisdom. During Spring Festival every year, people will raise traditional red lanterns to create a jovial atmosphere and strive for prosperity.

Held by the administrative committee of the Jinshitan National Tourist Resort, the publicity department of the Jinpu New District, the civilization office, the social affairs bureau, the commercial bureau and the Dalian Jinshitan Tourism Group, the event integrates traditional cultural elements into modern designs and combines folk cultures with tourism and leisure.

It is the largest such event in the province, offering incredible food and various recreational activities.

Starting the dreamy and brilliantly illuminated journey from the Jinshi Cultural Expo Center, visitors are surrounded by thousands of colorful lanterns and enjoy a visual feast as if they were seeing the stars twinkling under the night sky.

Using the Jinshi Cultural Expo Center as the core venue, the festival has five main theme exhibition areas - Luck Pig Makes Spring, Moral China, Wait 'Til You're Older, Legendary China and Classics of Colorful Lanterns. To create the most beautiful lanterns for the show, the designers have tried their best to learn about China's traditional culture and profound history. The exhibition combines the country's ancient antiques and cultures with the modern world.

This year's festival adds large-sized lanterns featuring popular cartoon characters such as GG Bond, Mermaid and Transformers.

"We created many lovely pig-themed lanterns to celebrate the Year of the Pig, which will shake their heads and hands with the light," a technician said.

Apart from the lanterns, visitors can also enjoy local and international specialty foods, traditional folk art performances and a variety of other activities.

This is the second year that the national 5A-level resort in the Dalian Jinpu New District has held a lantern show during Spring Festival. Also known as Golden Pebble Beach, Jinshitan is famous for its natural scenery and tourist facilities.

Clockwise from top: The spectacular view at the Jinshi Cultural Expo Center during the 2019 Jinshitan New Year Tourism Cultural Festival and New Year Lantern Festival in Dalian, Liaoning province. International visitors pose for a group photo in front of the main lantern. Red lanterns symbolize good luck and prosperity for the new year. Local officials of Jinshitan are dotting eyes of the lions before a lion dance show at the opening ceremony of the festival. Photos by Ma Chengjun / For China Daily