Tangshan welcomes Chinese New Year with colorful celebrations

Beijing: A group of overseas bloggers and foreign media journalists joined the locals in vibrant and colourful celebrations of the Chinese New Year held in Tangshan, Hebei Province.

Bloggers and journalists from Pakistan, Germany, South Korea, Philippines, Belarus, Latvia, and Iraq participated in the 2025 “Overseas ‘Cultural and Tourism Ambassador’” Tangshan Tour event.

During the tour, they visited Tangshan Nanhu Kailuan Tourist Scenic Area, Shadow Puppet Theme Park, Tangshan Nanhu Spring Festival Lantern Fair and three major themed lantern areas to experience Tangshan’s festive vibe and lively charm.

They also visited the Shanli Gezhuang Scenic Area and experienced rural ice and snow tourism.

The Tangshan Nanhu Tourist Scenic Aera is located in the city center of Tangshan and covers an area of 5.4 square kilometers. Originally a subsidence area of the Kailuan Coal Mine, it has been transformed into a beautiful “urban living room” after years of ecological restoration and management, creating an ecological civilisation achievement that turns decay into magic.

The scenic area features ecological landscapes and characteristic business formats, complementing each other. Over 130 landscapes, including Danfeng Chaoyang, Longshan, Domestic Garden, Longquan Bay, Yunfeng Island, and Phoenix Terrace, showcase the beauty of ecological restoration. A leisure trip to this area offers visitors the opportunity to experience the pleasure of an ecological journey.

The Shadow puppet theme parks and the Plant Charm Pavilion’s Wuxiang Forest, along with other cultural projects, are unique and heartwarming, offering visitors a truly memorable experience. The Tangshan Feast, Lake Side Stories, and the regional restaurants in the International Garden provide visitors with the opportunity to savour delicious cuisine and experience the unique charm of Tangshan.

The Nanhu scenic area serves as a remarkable example of the transition from an urban industrial civilisation to an ecological civilization, and it welcomes visitors from around the world to experience its unique beauty.

The Tangshan Shadow Puppet Theme Park represents a pioneering development in the field of shadow puppet parks, synthesising Tangshan’s traditional shadow play culture with a focus on parent-child interaction, a distinctive feature in the Chinese cultural landscape.

The project encompasses an expansive design area of 350,000 square metres, featuring a diverse array of attractions including the Low-Carbon Living Pavilion, the Petting Zoo, the Black Forest, the Shadow Play Theater, and Real-life CS. The park’s design prominently features shadow puppetry as its main element, thus bringing this intangible cultural heritage into everyday life. Its signature event, the Tangshan Shadow Puppet Theme Park Ice and Snow Festival, has also become a highlight of the Spring Festival tourism season.

The group visited Gezhuang Scenic Area and experienced rural ice and snow tourism. Located in a valley surrounded by mountains, it offers visitors the opportunity to walk through the rice fields and countryside in the early morning, accompanied by nature.

On the last day of the tour, the group visited Tangshan New Sports Center. The construction area of the complex is 112,900 square metres, and it comprises one stadium (with 35,000 seats), one gymnasium and one swimming hall. The sports building is classified as Class B, indicating its capacity to host regional comprehensive competitions and national single-item competitions.

They also visited PeiRen Historical and Cultural Street which is located in the core position of the industrial historical and cultural belt in Tangshan urban area. It is an urban historical and cultural life block integrating architectural antiquity, cultural nostalgia, and fashionable business formats.

It may be mentioned here that situated about 150 kilometres southeast of downtown Beijing and about 100 kilometres northeast of Tianjin, Tangshan celebrates Chinese New Year with a month of activities to provide visitors with exciting experiences and a festive atmosphere during the upcoming Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan 29.

According to historical records, Li Shimin, an Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was once stationed at the nearby Dacheng Mountain. Afterwards, the mountain was called Tangshan, which the city eventually adopted.