The 2026 Spring Festival, marking the Year of the Horse, witnessed a remarkable surge in Gansu's cultural tourism market. The province successfully achieved its overarching goals: zero safety incidents, zero major complaints, double growth in reception numbers, and a high-quality visitor experience. Embracing the "Year of the Horse" festive theme, key tourist attractions across Gansu delved deep into the cultural heritage of the Silk Road and local folk traditions. By skillfully balancing the demands of peak visitor flow with the delivery of meticulous services, they orchestrated over 6,000 distinctive cultural tourism events. These offerings created a series of vibrant, profound, and heartwarming New Year celebrations. From the glittering lanterns illuminating the ancient forts of the Hexi Corridor to the grand prayer ceremonies on the Longdong Plateau; from the dazzling light shows along the banks of the Yellow River to the vibrant fusion of customs in Tibetan villages and grasslands—Gansu presented a multi-faceted Spring Festival experience. Through an innovative integration model combining cultural tourism with intangible cultural heritage, technology, and rural revitalization, the province infused the ancient land of Longyuan with unprecedented contemporary vitality. It offered visitors from across the nation a festive journey where "every corner radiated New Year's charm, every moment held excitement, and every visitor gained a memorable experience."

Q: How Does Cultural Heritage Forge the Soul and the Year of the Horse IP Energize New Momentum for Silk Road Tourism?

A: This Spring Festival, Gansu leveraged its unique advantage as the home of the "Bronze Galloping Horse" to deeply integrate the culture of the Year of the Horse with the heritage of the Silk Road. This strategy created a highly distinctive New Year IP, allowing traditional culture to be both preserved and innovatively revitalized.

At the Wuwei Leitai Scenic Area, the "Heavenly Horse Culture" took center stage. The iconic "Bronze Galloping Horse" IP was seamlessly integrated with modern light and shadow technology, resulting in dazzling lantern displays such as "The Heavenly Horse Soaring Across the Skies" and "Auspicious Beasts of the Four Directions." The ancient art of "Dahuita"—molten iron splashed into sparkling fireworks—performed in tandem with a spectacular pyrotechnic show, vividly recreating the grandeur and elegance of this ancient Silk Road city from centuries past. Meanwhile, the Gansu Provincial Museum was teeming with visitors. The special exhibition featuring the Bronze Galloping Horse proved immensely popular, while the viral internet-favorite cultural creative products—the "Green Horse" series—continued to sell like hotcakes. These playful souvenirs have become a must-have New Year's gift for tourists, exemplifying a mutually reinforcing success where cultural relics are "brought to life" and cultural creative products "catch fire" in the market.

Cities like Tianshui and Longnan delved deep into their regional cultures, creating a vibrant collision between history and the Spring Festival celebration. At scenic spots such as Maiji Mountain and the Ancient City of Tianshui, Fuxi culture and Qin opera artistry were seamlessly woven into New Year activities. The Suwan Cultural Tourism Zone dazzled visitors with nightly performances of the intangible cultural heritage "Dahuita" (molten iron fireworks) and distinctive local song and dance shows. In Longnan, Wanxiang Street in Wudu District served as the provincial main venue for the "ICH Celebrates Spring Festival·Experience the Flavors of Chinese New Year" campaign. It not only hosted the first-ever filming of CCTV's special program "Galloping into the New Year·Celebrating the Year of the Horse in China" but also showcased intangible cultural heritage products from all 14 cities and prefectures across Gansu. This immersive experience allowed visitors to connect with the cultural roots of the Longyuan region at a single destination. Meanwhile, Pingliang's Kongtong Mountain Scenic Area launched a series of events under the theme "Steeds Greet Spring·Blessings Abound in Kongtong." By blending Taoist culture with New Year prayer traditions, the site received a total of 112,500 visits during the holiday. The "Kongtong Flavor of Chinese New Year" was featured on CCTV nearly ten times, cementing its reputation as a shining cultural tourism brand in eastern Gansu.

Q: Comprehensive Upgrading Across the Region: How Integrated Formats Forge a New Engine for Consumption Growth?

A: During the Spring Festival holiday, Gansu's key tourist attractions broke away from traditional sightseeing models by promoting the integration of multiple formats—including night tours, rural tourism, and study tours. This effort established a new cultural tourism consumption pattern featuring "day-and-night" full-time coverage and "urban-rural" comprehensive reach. According to statistics, the province's eight 5A-level tourist attractions, together with the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, received a total of 522,600 visits during the holiday—an increase of 173,700 visits compared to the 2025 Spring Festival holiday.

The nighttime economy emerged as the brightest highlight. A total of 46 themed lantern exhibitions illuminated the night skies across Longyuan, creating a dazzling tableau where "every city showcased its unique lanterns, and every lantern painted its own picturesque scene." In Dunhuang, the "Millennium Splendor·Prosperous Dunhuang" Lantern Festival dazzled visitors; in Lanzhou, the "Stars Dream into the City·Longyuan Lantern Paintings" themed exhibition at the Ancient Street captivated crowds; while in Zhangye, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Lantern Fair at Ganzhou Prefecture City offered a distinctive charm. Each attraction drew large numbers of tourists seeking immersive nighttime experiences. Cultural tourism districts such as Bafang Shisan Xiang in Linxia, Wanxiang Street in Wudu, and Jingyuan Water Street in Baiyin integrated diverse formats—including evening performances, culinary experiences, and cultural creative shopping—launching "New Year's Eve Special Discounts" that kept the nighttime economy steadily warming. The Spring Festival Fireworks Display at Jiayuguan's Hero Square served as a romantic grand finale, bringing the holiday to a spectacular close.

Rural tourism surged with robust vitality. Across the province, the "Tour and Shop in Villages·Welcome the Spring Festival" campaign was launched, deeply integrating rural cultural tourism resources with Spring Festival consumption demands. In Wuwei, special consumption zones featuring local snacks and folk specialty products were created to cater to visitors from the city and surrounding areas. In Longnan, the "Village BA" Friendly Rural Basketball Invitational kicked off at Nianjia Village, Jiaogong Town, Wudu District, drawing tourists from nearby regions to gather and watch the games. Cities such as Dingxi and Baiyin leveraged their rural resources to host activities including agricultural product exhibitions and folk performances. This transformed "staying in homestays, savoring local delicacies, and shopping for agricultural products" into a new trend for the Spring Festival, contributing to rural revitalization.

High-quality performances added cultural charm to the holiday. Immersive tourism productions such as "Dunhuang Melody" and "Encounter Dunhuang" transported visitors back along the millennia-old Silk Road, allowing them to experience the profound heritage of this ancient region. The 25th-anniversary edition of "Dream of Dunhuang" was magnificently staged at the Lanzhou Concert Hall. Meanwhile, at the Lanzhou Yellow River Tower, the "Ode to the Yellow River·Lanzhou Radiance Light Show" harnessed cutting-edge technology to narrate the city's stories along the banks of the Mother River. At the Tianshui Bailu Cang·Wanwusheng Tourism Resort, the Spring Festival Carnival captivated audiences with breathtaking intangible cultural heritage stunts and spectacular aerial wire performances. The event was so compelling that it attracted a 20-minute live multimedia broadcast by CCTV, showcasing Gansu's vibrant Spring Festival traditions to audiences across the nation.

Q: Heartwarming Services: How Meticulous Support Fortifies the Foundation for Cultural Tourism Development?

A: During the Spring Festival holiday, Gansu's cultural tourism sector firmly adhered to the bottom line of "safety, order, and quality," delivering service guarantees with meticulous care and precision—ensuring that visitors across the Longyuan region experienced warmth and thoughtfulness at every turn.

During the holiday, the cultural and tourism systems across the province implemented a work model of "leaders on duty plus key posts on duty". Joint law enforcement inspections under the "Holiday Protection" campaign were carried out through provincial, municipal and county-level coordination. A total of 5,895 law enforcement personnel were deployed, inspecting 3,030 cultural and tourism market entities. Among them, 24 illegal and irregular cases were detected and investigated, and 292 potential safety hazards were identified and rectified, achieving dynamic clearance of safety hazards. In response to the late return peak and off-peak passenger flow, major cities and prefectures including Lanzhou and Tianshui coordinated with traffic police departments to optimize traffic diversion. Scenic spots maintained return shuttle bus lines and ticket refund/exchange counters to ensure smooth travel for tourists.

Heartwarming services were found in every corner of the province's tourist attractions. Across Gansu, thousands of Spring Festival volunteer service stations were set up, with over 10,000 volunteers mobilized to provide visitors with complimentary hot water, device charging facilities, travel information, emergency assistance, and other visitor-friendly services. For special groups such as the elderly and children, scenic areas opened "green channels" offering services including wheelchair rentals and mother-and-child care. Throughout the holiday, the province achieved zero major tourism safety incidents, zero major complaints, and zero negative online public opinion, while tourist satisfaction continued to climb. Sustained Momentum: Online and Offline Efforts Jointly Amplify Gansu's Positive Story. This Spring Festival, Gansu's cultural tourism sector leveraged "online promotion + offline visitor attraction" in a two-pronged approach, spreading the brand image of "Auspicious Gansu" across the nation.

China Media Group, People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and other national media outlets focused their lenses on Gansu, publishing hundreds of reports highlighting the province's achievements in integrated cultural tourism development, heartwarming service initiatives, and impressive visitation figures. Scenic areas such as Lanzhou's Zhongshan Bridge and Shuimo Danxia were featured multiple times on CCTV. Channels including CCTV-1 and CCTV-13 broadcast repeated coverage of Gansu's holiday cultural tourism market on programs such as "News Live" and "Morning News," precisely showcasing the province's distinctive local charms. China Media Group went a step further, delivering a 20-minute live multimedia broadcast that presented Tianshui's vibrant Spring Festival traditions to audiences across the nation.

Online buzz continued to translate into offline foot traffic. Before the holiday, bookings for Gansu's Spring Festival tourism itineraries surged 89% year-on-year, with core routes in Gannan and Lanzhou accounting for 68% of total bookings. During the festival, various destinations launched initiatives such as online reservation systems, off-peak visiting arrangements, and cultural creative product flash sales, further unlocking the potential of cultural tourism consumption. Leveraging the unique advantage of the Tibetan New Year coinciding with the Spring Festival, Gannan Prefecture offered visitors an immersive experience of the region's distinctive New Year charm—achieving a double success in both cultural tourism reputation and market performance.

The 2026 Spring Festival holiday has drawn to a successful close, yet the cultural tourism fervor across the Longyuan region shows no signs of abating. This year's Spring Festival holiday not only established a strong foundation for the development of Gansu's cultural tourism industry but also accumulated valuable experience. Moving forward, Gansu will build on the momentum generated during the Spring Festival holiday by continuously launching premium spring cultural tourism routes and products. The province will further unlock the potential of cultural tourism consumption and steadily enhance the quality of its tourism services—allowing the millennia-old Silk Road culture to radiate even more brilliantly in this new era, and inscribing a new chapter in the high-quality development of Gansu's cultural tourism industry.