As the 2024 Spring Festival approaches, cities and towns across China are holding all kinds of folk performances and organizing festive markets to bring out the Lunar New Year spirit in people.

From the eastern provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian and Shandong to the Chinese capital Beijing, established features of the Spring Festival, such as folk culture events, colorful bazaars and themed celebrations are seeing locals and tourists alike embracing the holiday cheer full on as the grandest occasion of Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations is only three weeks away.
A Spring Festival carnival featuring local intangible heritage in Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, has been drawing large crowds to one of the city's commercial areas, where dragon and lion dances as well as shows of Chinese culture have become key tourist attractions since the event opened on Wednesday.
As tradition goes, locals in Ningbo, another major city in Zhejiang, would mince fatty and lean meat before making it into sausages for holiday feasts every year. And meat vendors in one of the city's markets are seeing people flocking to them to buy more pork and ready-made sausages in the past few days.
Elsewhere, villages in Shandong's Binzhou City have put on their signature Spring Festival markets with stalls selling everything from festive ornaments and mouth-watering snacks to colorful presents and other holiday treats.
The bustling markets and distinctive folk performances have made the villages popular attractions to tourists coming from around the world.
Meanwhile, Putian City in Fujian is also welcoming the Spring Festival in its own way by holding a massive year-end banquet in a store-lined alleyway recently that gathered more than 2,000 people from a local district.
According to Lin Junwu, an organizer of the banquet, the annual event is held to celebrate the history of the time-honored street.

Beginning on Thursday and lasting through the Lantern Festival on Feb 24, Beijing will also organize a wide range of themed events and activities for the 2024 Spring Festival, promoting tourism, consumption and winter sports during the holiday season.
Spring Festival is the most important festival in China and a time for family reunion. It falls on Feb 10 this year.