2026 Yantai International Expo Center Invites You to the "Ocean Fair"

Reporter: Li Bo

Photographer: Fan Zukang

As the Spring Festival approaches, the festive atmosphere in Yantai grows increasingly vibrant. On February 4th, the first day of the solar term "Beginning of Spring," the Yantai International Expo Center will host a grand event blending culture and consumption—the 2026 Shandong Province "Ocean Fair" New Spring Season and the "Our Chinese Dream—Culture Enters Every Home" event will officially kick off. This event will connect with the ongoing 2026 Yantai New Spring Festival Goods Fair, creating an integrated "strolling, appreciating, playing, and shopping" New Year celebration for residents.

It is reported that the event is themed "Stroll the Shandong Fair, Purchase Premium New Year Goods, Celebrate a Peaceful Spring Festival." It innovatively combines marine culture with New Year goods consumption, featuring core sections such as a marine-themed New Year goods exhibition and sales area, Jiaodong intangible cultural heritage and handmade crafts workshops, a marine cultural and creative products market, "Beginning of Spring" themed artistic performances, and an intelligent interactive experience zone. From deep-sea delicacies to Jiaodong colorful steamed buns (huabobo), from shell carvings to smart tech New Year gifts, over a hundred merchants will showcase more than a thousand distinctive "Premium Shandong Products" to meet the diverse consumption needs of citizens. The venue will also feature immersive intangible cultural heritage exhibition spaces, recreating projects like Jiaodong fishermen's work chants and Haiyang Yangko through realistic scenes, bringing traditional culture to life.

Several major cultural initiatives benefiting the public will also take center stage at the event: The provincial and municipal federations of literary and art circles will jointly organize over 40 renowned calligraphers to write on site, freely creating Spring Festival couplets and "Fu" character posters for citizens, conveying New Year blessings. A tuna auction will also be featured at the "Marine Grand Fair," where a deep-sea tuna weighing hundreds of pounds will be butchered and auctioned on site, with a portion of the proceeds donated to public welfare causes. Additionally, professional troupes including the Shandong Song and Dance Theatre, Shandong Provincial Cultural Centre, Jinan Song and Dance Theatre, and the Yantai Municipal Cultural and Arts Center will present wonderful theatrical performances integrating various art forms such as song, dance, opera, and acrobatics. During interactive sessions with prizes, audience members will even have the chance to take home complimentary gifts from the "Marine Grand Fair · New Year Presents".

On February 4th, why not bring your family and friends to the Yantai International Expo Center? Immerse yourself in the wave of marine culture, experience the modern interpretation of traditional New Year festivities, and usher in a prosperous and auspicious Year of the Horse!