Festive flavor
Across the Chaoshan region, towns and villages come alive during the Spring Festival. Throughout the month-long festive season, they host a wide range of celebrations, with residents sharing event schedules on social media that draw visitors eager to experience the region's distinctive culture.
A pre-holiday report from travel platform Trip.com Group showed that travel pre-orders to Shantou surged by 186 percent compared with the previous year, ranking first nationwide.
During the holiday period, the city recorded a 54.76 percent year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals, with most visitors coming from Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces.
On the social media platform Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok), the topic "Chaoshan New Year" has attracted more than 230 million views, while "Yingge dance" frequently trends on Sina Weibo.
Thanks to China's visa-free entry policy allowing stays of up to 30 days, many foreign tourists have also joined small boutique tour groups to experience the Chaoshan Spring Festival firsthand.
They learn how to make beef balls by hand, try Yingge dance steps, and take part in traditional Chaozhou Gongfu Tea ceremonies.
According to local authorities, visitors from Malaysia and South Korea to the Chaoshan region during the 2026 Spring Festival more than doubled compared with the previous year. Bookings for intangible cultural heritage experience tours also rose by more than 220 percent.
Zhang Yongmu, a 40-year-old ride-hailing driver in Shantou, has seen the surge in visitors up close. After years behind the wheel, he said he has noticed a significant increase in out-of-town vehicles during the Spring Festival since last year.
"Everywhere you look, there are license plates from other provinces," Zhang said. "Most of the tourists are families, drawn here by the food and the folk customs."
According to him, the festive atmosphere feels more vibrant than ever, partly because of the influx of visitors.
"In the past, we hardly worked during the entire first lunar month," he recalled. "Each village would hold its deity parades on different days, and people would invite relatives and friends over for meals. You'd spend the whole month either hosting or being hosted."
With more tourists flocking to Chaoshan, the pace of life has quickened, and many businesses now open earlier during the holiday than they once did.
Zhang's family runs a restaurant, and the Spring Festival season has become one of their busiest times of the year.
"Who wouldn't want a few extra stomachs when visiting Chaoshan?" he joked.
One dish Zhang recommends most is Chaoshan beef hotpot. The beef is meticulously sliced according to different cuts and cooked almost instantly in boiling broth, where freshness is key.
Another local staple is guo, a type of rice cake found in many Chaoshan households. It can be served in soup, mixed with sauce, or stir-fried with vegetables and meat.
For Chen, the growing attention is both exciting and motivating.
He wants to help bring Yingge dance to a wider international audience and further promote Chaoshan culture abroad.
"I hope our local Yingge teams can keep improving and find opportunities to perform overseas," he said.
"It's thrilling to see so many visitors come here just to watch us," he added. "To me, that's what the true Spring Festival spirit is about — sharing our traditions so that more people can appreciate them."
What is Yingge dance?
Yingge dance is a long-standing tradition in the Chaoshan region, with roots tracing back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The vibrant folk art blends dance, martial arts, and operatic performance techniques, and is known for its vigorous, bold movements.
Most Yingge performers portray heroic figures inspired by the classic Chinese novel Water Margin. Female troupes often depict legendary heroines such as Mu Guiying and Hua Mulan.
