On March 3, a spring snowfall dressed Jiuzhaigou Valley in silver once again. The budding greenery peeking through the white blanket of snow signifies the arrival of spring. The captivating interplay of winter and spring on the Western Sichuan Plateau prompts tourists to capture this unique spectacle with photos. Since the launch of the "Winter Tour of Sichuan Consumption Season" activities in early December last year, the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area has welcomed approximately 850,000 visitors from both domestic and international origins by the end of February this year, a year-on-year increase of 63 percent.

As winter gives way to spring, the land of Sichuan blossoms anew, and a sense of renewal permeates the air. All regions across the province are seizing the opportunity to plan and launch various spring tourism activities, extending the joy of travel from winter to spring, aiming to continuously stimulate new growth points in cultural and tourism consumption.

Enriched Business Forms

Stimulating New Growth Through Innovative Methods and New Scenes

Data released by the Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area Management Bureau indicates that from December last year to the end of February this year, the ticket revenue of the scenic area increased by 179.91 percent year on year. Similarly, the Huanglong Scenic Area experienced a boost in its ticket revenue during the same period, with a year-on-year increase of 108 percent. The data also reveals a notable trend: the proportion of young tourists visiting Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong has risen significantly.

Leveraging the improved operation of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway, Aba Prefecture has continuously enhanced services during the "Winter Tour of Sichuan Consumption Season". Initiatives such as free shuttle lines have been introduced, making it feasible for travelers to visit Jiuzhaigou within a day's journey of a thousand miles. Many young tourists are sharing "one-day and two-day quick travel guides" on social media, turning weekend trips to Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong into the latest trend among the younger generation. "You don't need to go far—this winter in western Sichuan, I've had a snow-filled adventure!" exclaimed tourist Hua Hua.

Capitalizing on the dual advantages of ice and snow landscapes and warm winter sunshine, Sichuan has prioritized optimizing services, enriching products, and updating scenes as the key strategies for the "Winter Tour of Sichuan Consumption Season", in a bid to explore new growth avenues for the province's tourism industry.

The Zengjiashan Scenic Area in Guangyuan has successfully wrapped up its 53-day winter ice and snow season event. Data from the scenic area shows that during the winter ice and snow season, the area hosted a total of 242,000 visits, marking a year-on-year increase of 9.81 percent. This growth is attributed to the enrichment of business forms and the introduction of new products, which collectively contributed to a year-on-year surge in comprehensive tourism income by 16.22 percent.

Climbing the Golden Summit, worshiping the Giant Buddha, and exploring various play methods offer even the most seasoned 5A scenic areas new and exciting experiences for visitors. During the "Winter Tour of Sichuan Consumption Season", Leshan linked the city's two major scenic areas of Mount Emei and Leshan Giant Buddha, integrating intangible cultural heritage, culinary delights, and other diverse elements to create new and crossover scenes. As of now, both scenic areas have each welcomed over one million visits during the winter season. For instance, the Mount Emei Scenic Area initiated various cultural tourism consumption promotion activities, such as the 26th Mount Emei Ice, Snow and Hot Spring Festival, coupled with the continuous distribution of cultural and tourism consumption coupons, attracting more than 1.4 million tourists since last December. This influx of visitors stimulates diverse consumption within the scenic area and its surrounding amenities, including hotels, hot springs, and cultural performances.

Expanding Horizons

Element Integration Sparking a Wave of Enthusiasm

As we enter the era of mass tourism, there is a growing trend towards diversified and personalized tourism demand. During the "Winter Tour of Sichuan Consumption Season", major scenic areas and resorts across the province embraced a holistic approach to tourism by combining diverse elements such as guochao (Chinese fashion trend), folk customs, parent-child activities, study tours, and intangible cultural heritage, aiming to expand the horizon of cultural and tourism integration.

Basking in its reputation as a sun-drenched haven, the Qionghai National Tourist Resort in Xichang City, Liangshan Prefecture, has sequentially hosted engaging activities, including music carnivals, light shows, camping events, and creative markets. Concurrently, it has bolstered service guarantees, such as comprehensive WiFi coverage and the convenience of exploring Qionghai using just one mobile phone. This diverse range of products has collectively generated a wave of excitement and interest. Data indicates that from December last year to February this year, the Qionghai Lushan Scenic Area welcomed a total of 3.617 million tourists. Notably, there was a significant year-on-year increase in the number of long-distance tourists. This surge in visitor numbers has positively impacted the surrounding area, fueling consumption growth in restaurants, hotels, and other local businesses.

Initiatives to strengthen sports-tourism integration and tap into the surging popularity of ice and snow sports to draw in tourists have also emerged as prominent highlights of the "Winter Tour of Sichuan". During the winter tourism season, a series of events were held at Xiling Snow Mountain, such as the China Mass Skiing Technical Competition, the 2024 Chengdu Youth Skiing Championship, and the "Run, Youth" 2024 Sichuan Youth Snow Fun Winter Camp, drawing ski enthusiasts from all over the country to fly in and participate. Xiling Snow Mountain has become a top destination for tourists from Southeast Asia and beyond seeking to indulge in ice and snow sports, thanks to its geographical advantages and favorable snow conditions.

Continuing the Fun

A Series of Spring Tour Activities About to Arrive

As spring makes its comeback in full bloom, all corners of the province are actively planning and launching spring tourism activities, aiming to prolong the pleasure of dining, lodging, exploring, shopping, and entertainment from winter tours into spring trips.

Chengdu Culture &Tourism recently unveiled a detailed guide to spring travel routes and activities. This spring, Chengdu will continuously roll out over 300 cultural and tourism activities centered around five themes: spring outings and flower appreciation, music performances, museum exhibitions, fitness sports, and intangible cultural heritage experiences. Moreover, the city will unveil ten spring cultural tourism maps and ten spring travel routes, presenting tourists with a visually captivating, exploratory, and delightful spring cultural tourism extravaganza.

In addition to expanding flower-viewing activities from urban parks to rural fields, Chengdu has curated hundreds of events this spring, including the "Hearing Spring in Chengdu" music series, the "Collecting Spring in Chengdu" cultural and museum exhibitions, the "Running Spring in Chengdu" fitness sports activities, and the "Touching Spring in Chengdu" intangible cultural heritage experiences.

From spring outings to culinary explorations and from admiring blossoms to interactive flower-themed activities, a variety of emotionally resonant experience scenes will be introduced. Recently, the "Dongpo Cuisine, A Thousand-Year Banquet" – 2025 "Tianfu Premium" Meishan Spring Consumption Season Promotion Event took place in the Kuanzhai Alley of Chengdu. The promotion highlights the myriad and unique ways to savor spring in Meishan: visiting the San Su Shrine Museum to delight in the begonia flowers, exploring the enchanting "Grand Song Dynasty Ever Bright City" Dongpo Shuijie tourism district by night, trekking to Heilong Beach, renowned as the "first sea of western Sichuan", to marvel at its thousand-island landscape, or ascending Wawu Mountain to witness the spring snow and bask in the splendor of alpine azaleas.

This year, the province will carry out the "Four Seasons of Travel in Sichuan" themed promotional activities throughout the year, featuring quarter-specific themes, including "Spring Flower Sea Tour", "Summer Cool Tour", "Autumn Colorful Forest Tour", and "Winter Ice and Snow Tour". Designed to stimulate the vitality of cultural and tourism consumption, these activities aim to attract a steady stream of tourists to experience Sichuan's diverse wonders in every season.