China Wuqiao International Acrobatics Festival

Overview of Tourist Festivals and Events of Hebei Province

The major tourist festivals and events in Hebei province are: the China Wuqiao International Acrobatics Festival, the Yongnian Tai Chi Quan International Congregation, the Zhuozhou Lantern Festival, and the Chengde International Tourist Festival. They are well-know both at home and abroad. Moreover, Zhangjiakou Bashang Grassland Cultural Month is held in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province every summer to show tourists the rich grassland ethnic customs, and to give them an opportunity to see the picturesque grassland scenery. Every winter, Zhangjiakou Chongli Skiing Tourist Month and Chengde Imperial Summer Villa Ice and Snow Festival are held in that order in Zhangjiakou and Chengde to show tourists the winter tourist resources of Bashang, to enable them to experience the charm and customs of the northland in the winter, and to provide tourists from home and abroad with various snow-appreciation and skiing related recreational services.

Hey tourists from home and abroad, travel in Hebei province and participate in various pageants of festivals and events!

Zhangjiakou Chongli Skiing Tourist Festival (January.-February)

Chongli County has 720,000 mu of secondary forest and is one of the counties of Hebei province which has the largest acreage of natural forests. In summer, the mountains are covered with verdure, in autumn, the serried woods are deeply dyed with colors, and in winter, everything is clad in white snow, and the land is rich in beauty. It has been recognized by the experts of the General Administration of Sport of China as the most genial place for developing ecological skiing tourism.

In recent years, Chongli county has built such scenic spots as the Saibei Ski Resort and the Cuiyun Mountain Recreational Village Ski Resort, which have eighteen 2000 meter-long easy runs, intermediate runs, and difficult runs and eight 3000-meter long lift rates. It has become a tourist resort which specializes mainly in skiing and integrates summer resort, sightseeing, and recreation, and a new highlight of Hebei province’s winter tourism.

Chengde Imperial Summer Villa Ice and Snow Festival

Time: February. 5-19 Venue: The Imperial Summer Villa of Chengde

Major contents: To demonstrate to the tourists the winter tourist resources of Bashang, to enable them to experience the charm and customs of northland in winter and to provide tourists from home and abroad with various snow-appreciations and skiing related recreational services. The main activities include: view the winter scenery and ice sculptures at the Imperial Summer Villa, participate in the diversified ice sports like skiing, winter swimming, riding ice vehicles, goat-pulled vehicles, and house-pulled vehicles, and watch professional skiing performances and contests and amateur skiing practice, taking sledges, dog-pulled sleds, house-pulled sledges, snow motors, . There are also such activities as game barbecue, fireworks and campfire parties, snow night fireworks, hunting, and snowfield exploration.

China Zhuozhou Lantern Festival

January 15-16 on Lunar Calendar

The Zhuozhou Lantern originated in the Han Dynasty, became popular in the Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It derived its name (Tonghui Lantern Fair) from the Tonghui Drum Tower on Nanbei Street of Zhuozhou, and was recognized as one of the eight great scenic spots of Zhuozhou in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. Since 1986, Zhuozhou has resumed the Tonghui Lantern Festival, and in 2000, it held the first China Zhuozhou Lantern Festival. Tonghui Lantern Fair was thus officially named the Zhuozhou Lantern Festival.

Zhuozhou Lantern Festival is held during the Lantern Festival every year. Decorated archway lanterns, group lanterns, and ushering lanterns are distributed in every street and alley of the city, and all of Zhouzhou becomes an ocean of lanterns. At night, the red lanterns are hung high in streets, the neon lights flicker, and the brilliant colorful light and a flood of people enjoy the gorgeous and luxuriant scene. During the lantern festival, there are also folklore performances, a fireworks party, and other performances. The tourists at the lantern festival have surpassed 150,000 person-times for years and years. After 2002, the lantern festival moved to the Urban Cultural Square, hence the scale becomes larger, and has become a large-scale tourist cultural event.

Chengde International Tourist Festival

June 2-4

Located at the northern part of North China and adjacent to Beijing and Tianjin, Chengde is a well-known Chinese historical and cultural city and a tourist city of scenery and garden. On this beautiful and fantastic land, brilliant world cultural heritage, fascinating forest and grassland scenery, and rich Manchu and Mongolian folklore complements and enhances each other’s radiance and charm, the unique city image, comfortable and fast-changing tourism environment, rich and distinct tourism resources, and the industrious and intelligent Chengde people make the “Zisai Pearl” give out increasingly greater glimmering radiance and appealing glamour.

To build the overall image of Chengde as a world cultural heritage city and a tourist city of imperial scenery and garden, to comprehensively exploit tourist market at home and abroad, and to promote the prosperity and development of tourism, the China National Tourism Administration and the People’s Government of Hebei Province have decided to hold China Chengde Imperial Summer Villa International Tourist Festival from June 2 to 4 each year at Chengde.

The festival aims to present to the tourists the charm of China’s famous historical and cultural city, and enable them to appreciate the quintessence of the world cultural heritage and to explore the verve of the imperial culture of Qing Dynasty. The main activities include: large-scale opening ceremony at the Imperial Summer Villa on the Dragon Boat Festival, international dragon boat contests, Fengning Folklore Grassland Festival, folklore cultural activities like dragon dance, lion dance, cloth-pasted picture making etc., visit of Guo Xiaochuan (a Chinese modern poet)’s former residence, tour on horse-back on the No. 1 grassland North of Beijing, watching Manchu and Mongolian ethnic customs and dance performances, and tasting local delicacies, etc.