Curtain comes down on Shanghai's popular tourism festival

The 2025 Shanghai Tourism Festival, themed Embracing Beauty and Happiness, concluded on Monday at the Shanghai Expo Cultural Park after a multifaceted 93-day celebration.

More than 500 events took place throughout the city as part of this year's festival, with the Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season, Shanghai International Light Festival and the China Shanghai International Arts Festival all contributing.

The annual celebration of culture, innovation and community engagement has become a major platform for Shanghai to promote tourism and wider economic development.

According to statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, during the summer tourist season, from July 5 to Aug 31, Shanghai hosted almost 97 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 1.54 percent. It is estimated that these tourists spent a total of 152.4 billion yuan ($21.4 billion), a year-on-year increase of 27 percent.

During the classic activities season, from Sept 1 to Oct 6, Shanghai hosted a total of 65.8 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 4.26 percent, with 160.8 billion yuan being spent, a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent.

This year's float parade, one of the festival's most popular features, made an appearance in 11 well-known landmarks and commercial areas across 10 districts. Among 25 participating floats, a Jay Chou-themed float won the competition award for most popular float.

Zhong Xiaomin, director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, said that the festival is an important window to showcase the city's warmth and tell Shanghai's stories to the rest of China and the world.

Zhong added that the festival is a grand stage for tourists from around the world to experience the beauty of Shanghai and celebrate happy moments together.

Li Junfeng contributed to this story.