The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is experiencing a new wave of tourism and consumer enthusiasm during the 2026 New Year’s Day holiday, with diverse countdown celebrations and immersive cultural activities surprising visitors seeking memorable experiences.
For those looking to the new year with special commemorative activities, Guangzhou has emerged as a popular choice due to its deep integration of culture, commerce, and tourism.
This year, Chinese mainland residents enjoy a three-day New Year’s Day vacation from Thursday to Saturday, while Hong Kong and Macao people have a one-day break on Thursday.
Data of multiple tourism platforms indicated that Guangzhou was the nation's top destination to enjoy New Year's Eve. On Wednesday, the daily passenger flow on Guangzhou's metro exceeded 14 million, setting a new record for ridership in the country.
With extensive experience in hosting festive activities, Guangzhou's tourism attractions, city landmarks, and commercial districts also continuously offer creative experiences to enhance the atmosphere for holiday travel.
The Pearl River night cruise launched exclusive cruises for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, offering multiple themed routes including nostalgic retro, China chic performances, cartoon and anime, and cyberpunk themes.
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In addition, a month-long New Year's Arts Season is transforming the iconic Canton Tower into a vibrant art destination, featuring dozens of music and dance performances.
The Lingnan Impression Park, a scenic area themed with Lingnan folk culture, also showcased spectacular fire performances and the ancient craft of creating “iron flowers” to lure visitors with visual feasts.
In Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District hosted its first New Year's Eve countdown concert, attracting 110,000 visitors to the West Kowloon Art Park on Wednesday, with 26,000 people gathering by the seaside to count down to the new year together. In total, over 1.18 million entries and exits were recorded in Hong Kong on Thursday, including more than 664,000 inbound visits.
The special administrative region’s newly-inaugurated cultural and tourism landmark — Kai Tak Sports Park — held its first New Year’s Eve concert featuring singer Zhou Shen. As the first Chinese mainland artist to perform at the venue, he attracted tens of thousands of spectators and drew many mainland visitors to Hong Kong for leisure and shopping.
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With two grand countdown events aimed at young people and families, Macao recorded 866,000 entries and exits on Thursday, including 188,000 inbound visits, setting new single-day records for both figures.
As a significant part of the commercial upgrading initiative in Shenzhen’s Luohu District, a commercial complex themed anime and cartoon culture commenced trial operation on Wednesday.
Spread over 17,000 square meters, it was renovated from a wholesale market and serves as a benchmark project for the integration of culture and commerce in the district’s Dongmen pedestrian street.
Taking the pedestrian street as the stage, Luohu launched dozens of activities over the past week to welcome the new year, including Hanfu exhibitions, anime products releases, cultural markets, comedy shows, and street performances, creating an immersive consumption and entertainment experience network.
