The enthusiasm of the Yichang tourism market for the “May Day Holiday” was fully sparked, thanks to the tourism livestreaming event themed “Premier Guide plus Top Streamer Taking You to Tour Yichang,” which preheated May Day holiday traveling. As of May 5, the “Two Dams and One Gorge Cruise”, including Yangtze River night cruise, received a total of 76,600 visitors, an increase of 9% compared to the same period in 2023 and a 162% increase compared to the same period in 2019. High-quality specialty hotels and B&B were in high demand, with over 100% occupancy rates in multiple hotels and more than 30 boutique B&B fully booked for the holiday.

　　With the boost of the Three Gorges Tourism Annual Pass, major scenic spots remained popular throughout the holiday. Over 20 A-class tourist attractions and B&B accommodations rolled out more than 40 free or half-price discount activities. Efforts were made to significantly enhance tourism convenience services, including the introduction of dedicated shuttle buses to attractions like Three Gorges Tribe, Qingjiang Gallery, Three Gorges Waterfall, and Jiufeng Valley. In total, the city has 448 parking lots with 32,294 parking spaces made available to visitors for free.

　　Major scenic spots have been presenting new cultural offerings one after another. The Three Gorges Tribe fully integrates historical and cultural elements into the tourism landscape. The Qingjiang Gallery scenic area has introduced activities such as folk music festivals and Hanfu fashion shows, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a completely new experience. At the Qu Yuan’s Hometown scenic spot, tourists can experience up close the charm of intangible cultural heritage such as Sanlü embroidery, traditional moxibustion, grass weaving along the Yangtze River area, and wooden sailboats along the Yangtze River. Meanwhile, the Chaibuxi Scenic Area hosted the opening ceremony of the Xilan Kapu (also known as Tujia Brocade) Cultural Museum, as well as exhibitions of intangible cultural heritage homestays and performances of Tujia specialty cuisines, among other activities.

　　Meanwhile, the popularity of rural leisure tourism continues to rise, with attractions such as the Three Gorges Tea Cultural Town in Yiling District, the Wang Zhaojun’s Manor in Xingshan, and the Dongfangnianhua Resort in Zhijiang launching various distinctive cultural tourism activities. Various cultural and museum venues have also rolled out a plethora of colorful cultural tourism performances. Across the city, more than 100 cultural activities have been organized by public cultural centers, libraries, and museums. For instance, the Yichang Museum hosted a special exhibition featuring character paintings from its collection. Additionally, through collaborative efforts among municipal and county-level institutions, a premium exhibition of dragon artifacts from the year of dragon was launched, attracting nearly 40,000 visitors in total. (Reporters/Gao Ran and Wang Ying, Correspondent/Tan Ling)