The 2025 Spring Festival is the first Spring Festival after the "Spring Festival - the social practice of Chinese people in celebrating the traditional New Year" was successfully included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human Beings. On January 7, in Langzhong, Sichuan Province, the "hometown of Chinese Spring Festival culture", the 2025 Langzhong Ancient City Spring Festival cultural activities with the theme of "seeking the source of the Spring Festival and celebrating the Spring Festival in Langzhong" were officially launched. On the day of the event launch, the reporter stepped into the ancient city of Langzhong, as if passing through a time tunnel and immersing themselves in the embrace of a thousand years of history. The streets and alleys of the ancient city are adorned with lights and colorful decorations, exuding a festive atmosphere. Strolling along the cobblestone road, one can feel the vicissitudes of time passed down by each stone. Surrounded by bustling crowds, the exhibition of intangible cultural heritage and folk parade are underway. The lively dragon and lion dances, lifelike door god paintings, lively puppet face changes, and the most anticipated event for tourists, the blessing of the elderly during the Spring Festival... "After watching these performances, I feel that the New Year is getting stronger and the Spring Festival is getting closer," said Jiang Yilin, a tourist from Shaanxi. According to the sponsor, this year's series of activities are divided into three major themes: "Spring Festival, Spring Festival, Spring Festival", including 13 sub activities, including dragon and lion dance performances, "Langyuan Legend" immersive performances, Spring Festival Lantern Festival Paradise, Spring Festival Temple Fair, Spring Festival folk social practice, gathering in the ancient city to celebrate the New Year, Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival) on the 15th of the first month, and disease tours and closing ceremony on the 16th of the first month. As one of the well-known ancient cities in China, the New Year's flavor in Langzhong begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. From this day on, various unique Spring Festival folk activities such as dragon and lion dances, "Spring Festival elders" blessing, pasting couplets, sitting in sedan chairs, and shining flower shoes will continue until the second day of the second lunar month, when the dragon heads up. These activities not only allow tourists to appreciate the profound history of the ancient city spanning thousands of years, but also allow the historical heritage and modern vitality of intangible cultural heritage to complement each other in Langzhong Ancient City. The Hundred Festival Year comes first, and the Four Seasons Spring comes first. The ancient city of Langzhong, with a history of over 2300 years, is the hometown of Luo Xiahong, an ancient Chinese astronomer and calendrist. Luoxia Hong presided over the compilation of the first astronomical calendar in Chinese history with complete written records - the "Taichu Calendar", which determined the first day of the lunar new year as the first day of the new year, and established the first constant "New Year", which is the modern meaning of "Spring Festival". As a result, Luoxia Hong is known as the "Old Man of the Spring Festival", and Langzhong is also known as the "hometown of Chinese Spring Festival culture". On December 4, 2024, at the 19th ordinary session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO held in Paraguay, the ancient city Langzhong frequently appeared in the application film for Chinese Spring Festival, demonstrating the profound historical heritage and unique folk customs of the ancient city. The Spring Festival is the traditional festival in China with the deepest connotation, the largest number of participants, and the widest influence. Throughout thousands of years of accumulation, the Spring Festival has continuously maintained and strengthened the emotional bonds between individuals, families, society, and the country, playing an important role in the continuity of Chinese civilization Zhang Zhiping, President of the Langzhong Famous City Cultural Research Association, said that taking advantage of the successful application for World Heritage status, Langzhong Ancient City is making every effort to create a strong atmosphere for the Spring Festival, innovate product supply, boost cultural and tourism consumption, safeguard and inherit historical context, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional culture. During the Spring Festival, Langzhong also launched a series of preferential policies. From January 7th to February 13th, overseas Chinese, foreign tourists, national university students, and tourists who land at Langzhong Ancient City Airport can enjoy free admission to Langzhong Ancient City Scenic Area and Tiangongyuan Scenic Area with relevant documents; Tourists dressed in formal Hanfu can enjoy a half price tour of the Langzhong Ancient City scenic area, while launching special ticket sales on multiple tourism platforms. (New Society)