Moviegoers enter a cinema in Shanghai on Jan 22, 2023. [PHOTO by CHEN YUYU/FOR CHINA DAILY]With box office receipts soaring during Spring Festival, long-anticipated prosperity has returned to Chinese cinemas,ushering in an inspiring start for the Year of the Rabbit.As of Wednesday, the country has grossed a total of 5 billion yuan (7 million) from seven new movies showing in more than 10,000 cinemas, according to the movie information live tracker Beacon.Although The Wandering Earth II, the sequel to China's most successful sci-fi epic,topped the festival's box office charts on Sunday, the second day of the Spring Festival holiday,director Zhang Yimou's historical thriller Full River Red turned the tide by seizing the champion's seat on Monday.The Wandering Earth II, which earned 8.3 points out of 10 on the review aggregator Douban, and Full River Red, which garnered 7.8 points, both received much praise,indicating the technical and storytelling leaps of China's film industry,according to some insiders.Most critics and insiders contacted by China Daily said the festival's two highest-grossing movies have signaled that Chinese movies imbedded with traditional values and culture are increasingly appealing to domestic audiences, with the trendy rise of cultural confidence in recent years.Ticket revenue for each of the two movies has surpassed 1.6 billion yuan, more than most Hollywood blockbusters released on the Chinese mainland in recent years,according to major ticketing websites like Maoyan.Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, said The Wandering Earth II has explored a good direction for Chinese sci-fi films, with its intriguing interweaving of traditional Chinese values,shaped by the country's millennia-long culture, with a futuristic world that faces an unprecedented disaster.Meanwhile, showcasing the diversity of genres, the animated feature Boonie Bears: Guardian Code ranked third for box office receipts,followed by the espionage thriller Hidden Blade in fourth place and the fantasy comedy Five Hundred Miles coming in fifth.Director Tian Xiaopeng's long-awaited animated feature Deep Sea took sixth place in the festival charts,while the sports movie Ping Pong:The Triumph — released two days after the other six movies, all of which debuted on Sunday — placed seventh.With most Chinese people recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic after the optimization of prevention measures, the domestic cinema market is witnessing a robust recovery.Lian Xiaofang, a 38-year-old mother in Tianjin, said she was surprised to discover long lines at local cinemas, something not seen for a long time, which made her feel like being in a crowded railway station during the Spring Festival travel rush."My family hasn't gone to a cinema for almost a year due to worries about infection and lack of attractive blockbusters. This festival has a variety of acclaimed offerings. Although tickets for good seats were difficult to purchase, we are happy to see that life has returned to the normal hustle and bustle," Lian said.Yu Chao, deputy general manager of Beijing's Capital Cinema, said festival movie ticket sales have exceeded the industry's original estimations,as most insiders initially thought that festival celebrations and a resurgence of tourism might reduce the number of theatergoers."However, the industry's long-term development cannot rely on a few blockbusters or a specific box office season like Spring Festival. We hope more quality films, especially those with small and medium-sized budgets, will be produced or released this year to fully boost morale," said Yu. 編輯：高佳尸山
Locals perform a dragon dance during a molten iron firework show to celebrate Spring Festival in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Jan 24, 2023. [PHOTO by HU YUANJIA/FOR CHINA DAILY]The ongoing Spring Festival holiday has blown a trumpet for the nation's tourism recovery, which is witnessing a robust rebound,thanks to optimized COVID-19 control measures.Southwest China's Sichuan province said that as of Tuesday, the fourth day of the seven-day holiday,the number of visitors to its 15 attractions rated 5A — China's highest ranking — had hit a record high for attendance since 2020. As of Wednesday, the 15 attractions saw a year-on-year increase of about 48 percent in the number of travelers, while ticket revenue was 64 percent higher than during the same period last year.The number of visits reached its capacity at some of the province's attractions, including Mount Emei,famous for its breathtaking views,and the Sanxingdui Museum, whose exhibits showcase the nation's ancient civilization.A report from Hubei province in Central China was also encouraging.According to the province's bureau of culture and tourism, Hubei had received 17.62 million visits as of 3 pm on Tuesday, a year-on-year increase of 26 percent. Tourism-related revenue was about 9.92 billion yuan (.46 billion) during the four days — 33.83 percent more than in the same period last year.Visitors at a museum in Guanghan, Sichuan province, take photos on Jan 24, 2023 of a gold mask discovered among the Sanxingdui Ruins. [PHOTO by LI DONG/FOR CHINA DAILY]Figures from travel agencies confirmed the boom in the tourism market during the Spring Festival holiday. Trip.com Group, for example, said that hotels, homestays and ticket bookings for tourist attractions all outperformed those in 2019- the year before COVID-19 hit — in the first four days of the holiday. It also said that homestay bookings doubled in the first four days compared with the same period last year, and sales of tickets for attractions rose 50 percent year-on-year.At the holiday's halfway point,travelers began planning their return trips. Travel portal Qunar said that most of its users set their return trips for between Thursday and Jan 31, and the market will see a return-travel peak on Friday — the last day of the holiday.Guo Lechun, deputy director of Qunar's big data academy, said that the number of returning travelers will surge compared with that of the early period of the Spring Festival travel rush, which started on Jan 7 and will end on Feb 15."We estimate that the passenger volume of the year's Spring Festival travel rush will recover to 80 percent of that in 2019, which is a good start for this year's tourism industry," he said.Early on Monday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a notice reminding travelers to protect their safety and health during holiday trips. The ministry said people should not go to dangerous areas such as riverbanks and the edges of cliffs, as well as off-limits places where safety and security cannot be guaranteed.Travelers were also encouraged to consider their own health condition when participating in high-risk recreational activities, and to prepare masks and other anti-COVID supplies. 編輯：高佳?
Moviegoers enter a cinema in Shanghai on Jan 22, 2023. [PHOTO by CHEN YUYU/FOR CHINA DAILY]With box office receipts soaring during Spring Festival, long-anticipated prosperity has returned to Chinese cinemas,ushering in an inspiring start for the Year of the Rabbit.As of Wednesday, the country has grossed a total of 5 billion yuan (7 million) from seven new movies showing in more than 10,000 cinemas, according to the movie information live tracker Beacon.Although The Wandering Earth II, the sequel to China's most successful sci-fi epic,topped the festival's box office charts on Sunday, the second day of the Spring Festival holiday,director Zhang Yimou's historical thriller Full River Red turned the tide by seizing the champion's seat on Monday.The Wandering Earth II, which earned 8.3 points out of 10 on the review aggregator Douban, and Full River Red, which garnered 7.8 points, both received much praise,indicating the technical and storytelling leaps of China's film industry,according to some insiders.Most critics and insiders contacted by China Daily said the festival's two highest-grossing movies have signaled that Chinese movies imbedded with traditional values and culture are increasingly appealing to domestic audiences, with the trendy rise of cultural confidence in recent years.Ticket revenue for each of the two movies has surpassed 1.6 billion yuan, more than most Hollywood blockbusters released on the Chinese mainland in recent years,according to major ticketing websites like Maoyan.Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, said The Wandering Earth II has explored a good direction for Chinese sci-fi films, with its intriguing interweaving of traditional Chinese values,shaped by the country's millennia-long culture, with a futuristic world that faces an unprecedented disaster.Meanwhile, showcasing the diversity of genres, the animated feature Boonie Bears: Guardian Code ranked third for box office receipts,followed by the espionage thriller Hidden Blade in fourth place and the fantasy comedy Five Hundred Miles coming in fifth.Director Tian Xiaopeng's long-awaited animated feature Deep Sea took sixth place in the festival charts,while the sports movie Ping Pong:The Triumph — released two days after the other six movies, all of which debuted on Sunday — placed seventh.With most Chinese people recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic after the optimization of prevention measures, the domestic cinema market is witnessing a robust recovery.Lian Xiaofang, a 38-year-old mother in Tianjin, said she was surprised to discover long lines at local cinemas, something not seen for a long time, which made her feel like being in a crowded railway station during the Spring Festival travel rush."My family hasn't gone to a cinema for almost a year due to worries about infection and lack of attractive blockbusters. This festival has a variety of acclaimed offerings. Although tickets for good seats were difficult to purchase, we are happy to see that life has returned to the normal hustle and bustle," Lian said.Yu Chao, deputy general manager of Beijing's Capital Cinema, said festival movie ticket sales have exceeded the industry's original estimations,as most insiders initially thought that festival celebrations and a resurgence of tourism might reduce the number of theatergoers."However, the industry's long-term development cannot rely on a few blockbusters or a specific box office season like Spring Festival. We hope more quality films, especially those with small and medium-sized budgets, will be produced or released this year to fully boost morale," said Yu. 編輯：高佳魚婦
