Millennium-old grottoes in China’s Hebei see tourism boom during National Day holiday

A series of events, including themed exhibitions and night tours, have been rolled out at the thousand-year-old grottoes in Handan City, north China’s Hebei Province, during the week-long National Day holiday that began on Thursday, creating an all-day cultural and tourism experience for visitors.

With a rich cultural heritage dating back nearly 1,500 years to the Northern Qi Dynasty (550–577), the Xiangtangshan Grottoes have drawn on their distinctive cultural identity to bring the stories of the grottoes to life through visual and immersive presentations.

The events include night tours, exhibitions of lost cultural relics and on Cizhou Kiln, the largest folk kiln system in ancient northern China, and quiz challenges, enabling visitors to experience the charm of a thousand-year-old kiln while touring the millennium-old grottoes.

In addition, the live-action performances are paired with themed art exhibitions, offering an all-day experience where visitors can study the grottoes by day and enjoy live performances by night.

After more than three months at sea, members of China’s 16th Arctic Ocean expedition have jointly created a painting that captures both the triumphs and trials of polar scientific research.

Organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the expedition deployed four ships, Xuelong, Xuelong 2, Jidi, and Tansuo 3, to study extreme environmental changes in the Arctic against the backdrop of accelerating global warming. On September 29, Xuelong and Xuelong 2 returned to Shanghai after completing their missions.

During the voyage, China Media Group (CMG) reporters aboard Xuelong invited nearly 100 crew members to collaborate on a canvas, sharing their experiences. The painting depicts the difficulties and challenges they faced, the honors and expectations of their research, and the images of those dedicated to science.

Before any crew member ever picked up a brush, the Arctic had already sketched the background with its extreme weather. Strong winds, torrents, and a harsh environment posed major challenges for the researchers.

“After staying outside for some five or ten minutes, our hands would already be frozen red. When we reached the trough of the waves [on a boat], it would look as if the waves were coming right over our heads,” recalled Zhu Chengwei, an expedition member.

Despite the hardship, the researchers successfully tested and used domestically produced advanced ocean observation equipment in polar research — one of their proudest moments, which they recorded on the canvas.

Qin Chuan, captain of the Xuelong ocean team, chose to paint a domestically produced monitor float.

“This is an Argo float we deployed, which automatically monitors ocean profiles. It has great significance for understanding the basic marine environment, and it’s made in China,” he said.

Xie Haixiang, director of the Xuelong laboratory, sketched a fundamental research equipment for the trip.

“I will draw a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth instrument). The CTD is the most important equipment for ocean surveys, providing the most basic data and water samples,” he said.

“Only by carrying equipment onto the Arctic sea ice yourself and lowering the instruments, can you get what you want. For instance, we take a little ocean water, and analyze what’s in it, to understand the changes each year. Global warming needs to be understood through different dimensions,” recalled researcher Zhu.

Beyond the canvas, what stands out even more striking are the moments of dedication: veteran members leading newcomers onto the ice, a group holding its ground in level-8 gales and heavy snow, and 30 people relaying to recover equipment stuck in the ice.

The most important element, beyond any record or image in the painting, is this group of expedition members who fear no hardship.

“Whenever I think of the polar spirit, countless images of those standing at the very front would flash before my eyes,” Zhu said.

“What we have done today will benefit future generations. Although we are doing something that may seem very insignificant, I believe it will surely prove its worth in the future,”said Ning Wenfeng, another team member.