Suzhou Int'l Tourism Year and citywide Spring Festival celebration kick off

Themed "Lanterns Glow in Suzhou, Fortune Arrives in the Year of the Horse," the 2026 Culture City of East Asia - Suzhou International Tourism Year and the Suzhou Spring Festival Celebration kicked off at the Grand Canal Theater last night.

In 2025, Suzhou recorded robust growth in inbound tourism. The city received around 5.74 million overseas visits, up 14.2 percent year on year, with a marked rise in in-depth travel experiences. Tourism revenue topped 1.9 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 25.7 percent.

To better serve global visitors, the "Suzhou Culture and Tourism Overseas Starhub" one-stop service platform was launched. With four core sections — Trip.Best, Featured Hotels, Local Experiences and Traveler Stories — the platform offers foreign visitors a comprehensive digital travel guide.

Scan the QR code to learn more about the platform

This year's Spring Festival lantern fair features four themed zones at Shilu, Changmen Gate, the Grand Canal and Tiger Hill, respectively, connecting eight lantern display spots: the Grand Canal Theater 运河剧场 , MixC World 万象天地 , Shilu Shangchengmen 上城门(神仙市集) , North Wharf · Republic-of-China-style Street 北码头民国风情街 , Changmen Gate 阊门 , Shantang River, Tiger Hill Flower Paradise 虎丘花事 and Tiger Hill Scenic Area 虎丘 .

Myriads of performances await visitors on streets, including "A Touch of Art" series, lion dances, puppet shows, parades and the "Birdman and His Chimera Band" show. Public transport will also put on Spring Festival decorations. Suzhou Metro will collaborate with the local IP "Nanci" to transform its stations and trains into light landscapes, while customized mini buses will don holiday-themed designs.

During the opening ceremony, cultural and tourism coupons worth over one million yuan were distributed via "君到苏州" platform on WeChat. A rewarded invoice campaign has been launched, offering a total prize pool of 130 million yuan during the holiday. Individual consumers who upload a single invoice of 100 yuan or more (tax included) can enter prize draws, with a maximum prize of 800 yuan per invoice. In addition, major business complexes, such as MixC World, Wujie Matro Boutique Center, JD Mall (Xiangcheng and SND branches), iD PARK and Joy City, will roll out holiday promotions and deep discounts.

Scan th e QR code to access "君到苏州" platf orm

Source: Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism