Chengdu Opens 36-Work Digital Light Festival, Touts Skiing and Free Visas

The city of Chengdu, China, officially opened the Chengdu International Digital Light and Shadow Art Festival 2026 on 29 September 2026 at Eastern Suburb Memory. Organised by Chengdu Dongfang Zhenghuo Culture Media Co., Ltd., the festival brings together 36 digital art works from countries around the world, combining indoor virtual exhibitions with outdoor light shows. The festival runs throughout China's National Day holiday period, alongside a push to promote year-round ice and snow tourism to attract international visitors.

Chengdu's Digital Culture Industry Expands Overseas

In recent years, Chengdu has emerged as a hub for China's creative and digital culture industries. Animated films from Chengdu-based studios, including Ne Zha 2 and All Wishes Come True, have gained popularity overseas. In late August, All Wishes Come True screened in more than 110 cinemas across Malaysia, with over 600 showings a day, while Ne Zha 2 held the number one spot at the Singapore box office for three weeks and topped the Malaysian box office for two weeks.

In 2025, Chengdu's creative and digital culture industry recorded strong growth, reflecting its position at the forefront of the industry in China and establishing itself as an important bridge between Chengdu and overseas markets.

Indoor and Outdoor Skiing Support Year-Round Tourism

Beyond its digital culture offering, Chengdu has a wide range of tourism resources, including World Heritage sites, Sichuan cuisine, and one of the fastest-growing ice and snow tourism sectors. The city now has more than 60 winter sports venues, meaning ice and snow tourism is no longer limited to the winter season. A report assessing China's ice and snow economy for the 2024 to 2025 season ranked Chengdu 9th nationally for its capacity to deliver ice and snow economy services.

Chengdu Sunac Snow Park in Dujiangyan ranks 4th in the world among indoor ski resorts by snow area, covering 55,000 square metres with year-round temperature control and seven ski routes. Visitors can ski indoors and then visit the Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng World Heritage sites in the same trip. Xiling Snow Mountain, meanwhile, is the first tourist destination in southwest China to offer 24-hour skiing in winter, with hotpot and hot tea activities in the snow encouraging visitors to stay longer. As a result, visitor numbers for the 2024 to 2025 snow season rose by 14.71% year-on-year, with surrounding accommodation more than 90% booked every weekend.

Visa-Free Policies Make Travel Easier for International Visitors

Chengdu continues to upgrade its facilities for inbound tourists, drawing on reciprocal visa exemption arrangements between China and Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as a temporary visa-free transit policy of up to 240 hours at Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. An estimated 144,000 travellers are expected to pass through Chengdu's border checkpoints, averaging 18,000 per day. The city has also opened dedicated channels for international tour groups and multilingual service points at major tourist sites, covering ticketing, guided tours and emergency assistance.

This news is of interest to event and arts festival organisers looking for ideas from overseas, hotel and tourism professionals tracking trends in the Chinese market, and travellers interested in experiencing Chengdu's digital culture and snow activities.