Ancient culture adds to holiday appeal

During the five-day Labor Day holiday that began on April 30, tourist attractions that offered ancient Chinese, or guofeng, experiences attracted large crowds, some members of whom wore traditional clothing and makeup to enhance the authenticity of their experiences.

Qujiang New District in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, charmed tourists with a new attraction themed on TV serial The Longest Day in Chang'an. It offers visitors a chance to "travel back in time" and experience a day in the life of people living in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Xi'an, known as Chang'an back then, was the imperial capital.

The World Rural Tourist Town in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, staged a cultural festival with a silk and Song Dynasty (960-1279) theme. During the first three days of the holiday, the resort received nearly 30,000 visits, putting it into a Tik-Tok list of the 10 most sought-after Huzhou attractions, according to a report by China Cultural Media Group.

The Jizhou Kiln scenic area in Jiangxi province held a tourism festival with a Song Dynasty theme. Tourists, wearing period costumes and makeup, tried their hand at the ancient Chinese game of touhu-throwing arrows into wine pitchers-and sampled yonghe tofu, one of the top 10 Jiangxi dishes, according to the China Cultural Media Group report.

COVID-19 has accelerated changes in consumers, who are increasingly pursuing comfortable and safe tourism products that benefit both the environment and people's health, the report cited a representative of the Tourism Industry Research Institute of Kchance, a tourism consultancy in Shanghai, as saying.

For tourism businesses, it's important to highlight the cultural sophistication of tourism products by drawing inspiration from China's traditional culture, the representative noted.

A staff member of the Xixi National Wetland Park, in Hangzhou of Zhejiang province, told Hangzhou Daily that tourists donning hanfu-traditional Chinese robes-have been seen in the park during every Huazhao Festival in recent years. Huazhao Festival is a traditional flower festival held in celebration of the flower goddess' birthday.

To create an immersive experience, staff members dressed in hanfu would join the crowd and interact with the tourists by, for example, handing them flower seeds, the staff member said, adding that services such as hanfu rental and traditional makeup design are available in the park.

Hotels are also tapping the guofeng craze to feed the growing passion for traditional Chinese culture.

A guofeng hotel of Chinese firm Rezen provides replica costumes from online games based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West, which the guests can try on for photos, Hangzhou Daily reported.