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.