On January 26, the launch event for the 2026 "Best Hongqiao" Carnival Spring Season "Culture and Tourism+" series, themed "Vibrant Changning, Immediate Renewal," was held at the Camphor Plaza of Columbia Circle. This marked the official opening of Changning District's Spring Festival cultural and tourism activities.The event was hosted by the District Culture and Tourism Bureau and organized by the District Culture and Tourism Management Center and the Changning Culture & Art Center. By integrating three key regional characteristics of fashion, art, and lifestyle, it established seven interactive experience zones: "See," "Appreciate," "Watch," "Tour," "Seek," "Shop," and "Savor." This offers residents and visitors a rich Shanghainese new year cultural feast, aims to boost regional cultural and tourism consumption vitality, and strives to convert visitor flow into lasting engagement.

 Seven zones weave equine charm, lighting up a vibrant spring scene 

As night fell and lights came on, the launch event began with a fully immersive atmosphere. Lion and dragon dance performances ignited the crowd's excitement, overflowing with new year joy. On site, awards were presented to the second Gold Teen Curator team and the winners of the 17th International Children's Zodiac Animal Painting Exhibition. Through a series of innovative presentation formats, the complete picture of Changning's Spring Festival activities was vividly displayed.

The launch officially introduced the seven themed zone activities: "See Art Exhibitions," "Appreciate Intangible Cultural Heritage," "Watch Performances," "Tour Horse-themed Parks," "Seek Horse-themed Fortune," "Shop Immediately," and "Savor Delicacies." Through an immersive "art-commerce-ecology" experience design, it focuses on showcasing Changning's "elegant and storied" urban character.

"See Art Exhibitions" collaborates with municipal and district-level art venues to present high-quality exhibitions like the Dunhuang Culture and Art Charity Exhibition, allowing the public to feel artistic charm amid light and shadow. "Appreciate Intangible Cultural Heritage" closely follows the festive period from the Laba Festival to the Lantern Festival, promoting series activities like lantern raising, street parades to welcome the God of Wealth, and fun lantern riddle gatherings in commercial districts, revitalizing traditional culture with laughter and joy. "Watch Performances" explores new performance spaces like the International Dance Center and Haisu Culture Plaza, presenting magnificent new year concerts to enrich residents' cultural lives. "Tour Horse-themed Parks" partners with Shanghai Zoo to design Year of the Horse educational tours and launch adorable cultural and creative products, allowing families to explore the mysteries of nature through interaction. "Seek Horse-themed Fortune" collaborates with Spring Tour to create new year hiking activities, inviting visitors to measure the city with their steps and capture happiness with their cameras. "Shop Immediately" combines Year of the Horse-themed cultural and creative products to meet consumers' holiday shopping needs for a one-stop experience. "Savor Delicacies" focuses on the "Jiangnan scenery and products" theme, revitalizing and upgrading the Spring Festival Food Festival around featured hotel restaurants, letting taste buds encounter the flavor of a happy new year in the lively atmosphere.

At the event, attending leaders and guests held props like magnifying glasses, lanterns, cameras, small flowers, gourds, gold ingots, and dumplings, jointly lighting up a two-dimensional horse-shaped installation symbolizing the "Immediate Renewal" theme, marking the full launch of Changning's Spring Festival cultural and tourism activities. The silhouette of this highly creative two-dimensional "horse" draws inspiration from the Przewalski's horse at Shanghai Zoo, with its body patterns referring from the Nine-Colored Deer in the Dunhuang murals. The QR codes for the seven zone themes are labeled by concrete props like magnifying glasses and lanterns. Residents can scan the codes to instantly access a complete guide to the Spring Festival activities, which attracted many visitors to take photos.

 Cycling adventure to seek horse traces, unlocking new urban cultural tourism experiences 

As a special preliminary activity for this launch event, the "Seek Horse-themed Fortune" new year cycling activity had already kicked off earlier in the afternoon. Changning Culture and Tourism Bureau partnered with the "1940" brand, inviting 10 professional cyclists to depart from the main event venue. Following a carefully designed route, they visited multiple cultural and tourism spots scattered across Changning District containing "horse" elements, such as the "Galloping" horse landscape sculpture on Zhongshan Road W. and the zebra-patterned bridge pillars at Hami Road Rucker Park, for fun check-ins. This transformed cultural exploration into an offline puzzle game for public participation, conveying beautiful expectations for the new year.

At the launch event, cyclists who completed the exploratory journey made an appearance on their distinctive bicycles, chanting the slogan "Vibrant Changning, Immediate Renewal" in unison, and shared their cycling experiences. Subsequently, the organizers officially launched the new year hiking "horse" search activity. Together with Spring Tour, they innovatively introduced the integrated "Let's Go" Citywalk tour guide reservation system, combining the "Why Love Changning" mini-program and the "Spring Tour" platform in the form of a puzzle board. This aims to provide more convenient and personalized guided tour services for residents and visitors visiting popular neighborhoods like Yuyuan Road. Currently, the system has launched its first batch of five professional guides. Users can access the dedicated portal through the "Why Love Changning" mini-program to independently choose and book their preferred guide.

 Markets and exhibitions blend equine fun, activating a new Shanghainese new year atmosphere 

To let residents and visitors feel the strong Spring Festival atmosphere, Columbia Circle has been hosting a Spring Festival Intangible Cultural Heritage Market since January 23. It features nearly 20 special stalls for activities like Spring Festival couplet writing, woodblock new year painting making, and Shanghainese embroidered ball experiences, full of new year spirit. Furthermore, this event collaborates with multiple commercial complexes including The Place and Livat Shanghai, holding various folk festival activities like "Warm Laba Congee Distribution." This fully utilizes the crowd-gathering and traffic-attracting effect of "intangible cultural heritage+" to meet the diverse consumption needs of residents and visitors, achieving a win-win for cultural value and economic benefit.

The simultaneously opened 17th International Children's Zodiac Animal Painting Exhibition, themed "Giddy-up Giddy-up, Here Comes the Horse!", showcases about 530 playful works. These encompass flat paintings, three-dimensional sculptures, installation art, and intangible cultural heritage-related pieces, highlighting the integration and innovation of zodiac culture and traditional artistic elements in contemporary youth aesthetic education. The exhibition will last until March 10, offering multiple artistic feasts for the public at five venues: Shanghai Hongqiao Contemporary Art Museum, Columbia Circle, The Place, Shanghai Zoo, and Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center.

It is reported that this launch event for the "Vibrant Changning, Immediate Renewal" series integrated various forms such as cycling exploration, folk markets, art exhibitions, and technological empowerment. It is another innovative practice by Changning District to promote the deep integration of culture, tourism, commerce, sports, exhibitions, and greenery, and to build a distinctive urban brand. From January 26 (Laba Festival) to March 3 (Lantern Festival), Changning District will specially launch the Spring Season "Culture and Tourism+" series of activities. It will meticulously build three major cultural and tourism clusters at Columbia Circle, The Place (Yi Fung Place), and Shanghai Zoo, forming a coordinated development pattern linking the east, center, and west. By deeply integrating cultural, intangible cultural heritage, and exhibition resources, it aims to create a strong festive atmosphere radiating from points to areas. All residents and visitors are welcome to visit Changning during the Spring Festival to feel the city's warmth and cultural depth, jointly savor the unique charm of Shanghainese new year customs, and welcome a vibrant new chapter in the Year of the Horse.

Attendees at the launch event included Cheng Meihong, first-level inspector of the Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau; Pan Guoli, member of the District Party Committee Standing Committee and minister of the Publicity Department; Wang Luoqing, member of the District Party Committee Standing Committee, minister of the United Front Work Department, and president of the Changning Overseas Friendship Association; and Deputy District Director Gu Jieyan.