South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is seeing an influx of tourists as the traditional Sanyuesan festival approaches.
Inscribed on the national list of intangible cultural heritage, the Sanyuesan Festival falls on the third day of the third month based on the traditional Chinese calendar. It will kick off on March 31 this year.
Each year, the festival is celebrated by the Zhuang ethnic group in Guangxi, to honor their ancestors, celebrate their ethnic identity, and welcome the spring. It's also an opportunity to pray for good weather, a bountiful harvest, and the overall well-being of the community.
In addition, the celebration features a wide variety of cultural activities including lively folk singing and dance performances, grand banquets, and exciting games, drawing visitors from within the region and beyond.
Data from the e-commerce platform Meituan showed that Guangxi has seen tourism-related bookings surge by 167 percent year on year as of Sunday. Many tourist agencies have launched festival-related theme tours spanning one to three days.
Staff at many restaurants and hotels across Nanning, the region's capital city, have reported a rise in bookings.
"The bookings of Zaocha, a traditional breakfast tea, has increased by 30 percent year on year, and room bookings are up by 38 percent year on year," said Huang Feizhen, deputy general manager of a hotel in Nanning.
Notably, the search volume for "Guangxi Sanyuesan" on the online platform Meituan has surged by an astonishing 402 percent year on year since mid-March, with the search volume of other related keywords, including festival food, handicrafts, and attire rentals also experiencing a sharp increase.
Guangxi sees booming tourism ahead of traditional Sanyuesan festival
Guangxi sees booming tourism ahead of traditional Sanyuesan festival
The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) has become more indispensable than ever in today's fast-evolving global landscape, according to Tan Kong Yam, an Emeritus Professor of Economics with the School of Social Sciences, Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
The Boao Forum for Asia 2025 Annual Conference opened on Tuesday in the town of Boao in south China's Hainan Province.
With the theme "Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future", the four-day forum has attracted nearly 2,000 attendees from more than 60 countries and regions to participate in more than 50 events and many bilateral events, according to the press conference.
"We are currently living through an era of profound global changes, marked by rising geopolitical tension, economic fragmentation, the climate crisis and disruptive technological shift all occurring simultaneously. In such a complex environment, dialog platforms like the Boao Forum for Asia has not diminished in importance, rather they have become even more indispensable than ever before," said Tan.
The BFA provides a distinctive Asian perspective for improving global governance, as well as more opportunities for developing countries and Global South countries to voice their opinions, said Tan.
"Boao has a unique positioning as a high-level dialog platform. Centered on Asia, Boao distinguishes itself from other international forums typically dominated by the West. It provides a valuable opportunity for developing countries, especially those in Asia and the Global South, to make their voices heard. Boao Forum is critical for promoting regional cooperation, especially in key areas such as infrastructure, trade, green development and the digital economy. The forum is a platform for soft power. In an increasingly multi-polar world, Boao helps build trust through dialogs," he said.
Tan also highlighted that Chinese economy shows remarkable resilience, marked by advancements across various sectors, including artificial intelligence.
"The overall outlook for China's economy continues to show strong resilience. Key sectors such as the advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and clean energy are receiving robust policy support. The roll-out of the digital renminbi and the development of smart logistics also indicate that China is actively positioning itself for future economic trends. In recent years, China's progress in the field of artificial intelligence has been remarkable. A particular note is the breakthrough achieved by DeepSeek, which stands as a concentrated expression of China's innovation capacity in AI. It is a result of the synergy between China's national technology strategy, vast market scale, institutional advantages and global outreach. It not only signals China's growing global competitiveness in AI, but also position China as a potential driver of the next global productivity revolution," he said.
The BFA was founded in 2001 and offers a platform for dialogue between leaders from government, business, academia and other organizations to discuss economic, social and environmental issues, promote economic cooperation and support the sustainable development of Asia's economy.
Boao Forum more indispensable in current rapidly-changing world: economist
