Shanghai ready to roll out tourism festival

The 35th Shanghai Tourism Festival will take place from Sept 14 to Oct 6 with about 200 themed tours, activities, and products introduced alongside the iconic float parade.

On the evening of Sept 14, 25 performance teams and 25 colorful floats will gather at Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street to kick off this year's festival with a float parade.

World-renowned cultural and tourism resources such as Mount Huangshan and Dunhuang, top international cultural and tourism IPs such as Disneyland and LEGO, and art performance groups from 16 overseas countries and regions, including the United States, France, and Italy, will participate in the opening ceremony.

Following the opening ceremony, the floats will travel to major business districts and neighborhoods in 11 districts, including Daning in Jing'an and Global Harbor in Putuo, for parade displays running through Sept 27.

The closing ceremony, featuring fireworks, drone flights, and light and water shows, will be held at the Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park in Lin-gang Special Area.

A series of key events are scheduled throughout this year's festival, according to Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.

The Great Art of Dunhuang exhibition will take place at the China Art Museum from Sept 20 to Dec 20, featuring some of the most representative and rare artworks from the collection of the Dunhuang Academy.

The Lin-gang Special Area introduces three Citywalk routes, linking important cultural and tourism landmarks in the region such as the newly opened Shanghai L+ Snow Indoor Skiing Theme Resort, the popular Shanghai Astronomy Museum, and the Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park.

"We aim to host 10 million visitors by 2024, reaching 15 million by 2025, showcasing Lin-gang as a burgeoning tourist destination," said Miao Ting, an official from Lin-gang Special Area.

Sports will also play a prominent role during the festival with a series of events, including the Motocross World Championship starting on Sept 14, the Tour of Shanghai from Sept 20 to 22, and the Head of Shanghai River Regatta from Sept 28 to 20.

In addition, this year's Shanghai Tourism Festival will set up eight branch venues in cities and regions, including Dunhuang in Gansu province, Shigatse in Xizang autonomous region, Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Huangshan in Anhui province, Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, Yancheng, Nantong, and Jingjiang in Jiangsu province.

Throughout the festival, many tourist attractions in these regions will be open to Shanghai residents for free to celebrate the festival together.

"Since last year, Shanghai's inbound tourism has shown a promising trend of accelerated recovery. In the first half of this year, the number of inbound tourists exceeded three million, representing a growth of over 140 percent compared to the previous year," said Zhong Xiaomin, director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.

"We are currently in the process of selecting and launching over 120 high-quality inbound tourism routes that encompass various dimensions, to further enrich tourism products, optimize tourism services, solidify China's position as the premier destination for inbound tourism, and attract more overseas visitors to Shanghai," Zhong added.