Hello 2025 | Shanghai is lively and festive on New Year’s Eve as people enjoy romantic ice and snow and go shopping fervently
As the clock ticks away, we are a few hours away from welcoming 2025. On New Year’s Eve, the streets of Shanghai are brimming with light and lively revelry.
From noon to evening on December 31, reporters from The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) saw during their interviews multiple locations in Shanghai that the bustling Nanjing Road, known as the commercial capital of China, was crowded with people; the豫园灯会 in Jiangnan classical garden was dazzling; and the West Bund, a popular tourist destination among internet celebrities, was full of both Chinese and foreign tourists. In Shanghai’s largest outdoor ice rink by the waterfront, both fashionable young people and families with children were enjoying the cold weather. The 豫园灯会, which has been held for 30 years and is a cherished memory for countless Shanghai residents, is also about to light up on the eve of the new year.
Dancers grace the ice rink by the waterfront
As the evening sun sets, more and more tourists are flocking to Xuhui Binjiang in Shanghai’s徐汇区. Coffee shops and restaurants are full to bursting, birds are flitting over the Huangpu River, and cruise ships are slowly steaming ahead. Along the riverside, beside a giant deer installation towering 16 meters high, Shanghai’s largest outdoor ice rink by the waterfront is full of市民 and tourists.
At around 6 pm on December 31, 2024, at Shanghai Xuhui Binjiang’s ice rink, a queue performance led by female figure skating athlete Bao Li will take place to celebrate the New Year’s Eve. In the late afternoon, the entire ice rink is filled with gracefully dancing young people and children.
“I love skating so much, I’ve been skating before,” said Mengmeng, a fifth-grader wearing a hat and ice shoes as she skated with her classmates. After skating for a while, she leaned on the railing and spoke with her mother, Ms. Li. Ms. Li told the reporter that it was a coincidence that it was New Year’s Eve, her daughter’s school finished early, and she specifically brought her daughter and her classmates out to relax.
The person in charge of 乐滑之梦, Zhao Yi, told reporters that the ice rink has been operating since December 14th and has been very busy since its opening day. The daily attendance is between 1,200 and 1,500 people. On holidays, many parents bring their children here. There are many ice rink facilities in Shanghai, but this one faces the Huangpu River with a vast space of over thousands of square meters, attracting many consumers to experience the joy of snow and ice.
As the night progressed and more people flocked to the riverside, many Chinese and foreign tourists took advantage of the romantic atmosphere of ice and snow and the cozy waterfront space to enjoy their time and迎接2025.
Shopping spree on Nanjing Road
“The cross-year discounts at shopping malls are also very attractive, and you can buy everything you want by strolling along Nanjing Road,” said consumer Ms. Lu.
On December 31st中午, customers were flooding into 新世界城. Ms. Lu told The Paper that she has been seizing Nanjing Road’s promotional coupons every year at this time. “The offline merchants offer the biggest discounts during the cross-year period, plus the coupons can be used directly as money, making everything a good buy.”
On December 30th, Nanjing Road pedestrian street launched a total of 3,000 “cross-year special event” promotional coupons priced at 500 yuan for group purchases of 1000 yuan to aid this event. “I finally managed to grab one yesterday, and I came today specifically to buy cosmetics,” said consumer Ms. Ye in 大丸百货. She told reporters that with the combination of商场、brand discounts and promotional coupons, she managed to purchase her long-awaited brand skin care set at a discount equivalent to 5.5%, “This brand usually only offers discounts of around 7%, so buying it now is really a great deal.”
“I heard that this store’s糟卤 is very famous, so I came today specifically to buy some,” said Mr. Wu from Shanxi as he and his friends browsed for卤味 at Nanjing Road store. He said he was here for a trip and would be returning tomorrow but wanted to buy some specialty products as gifts today. “Shanghai is very stylish and lively. I heard that New Year’s Eve at night is very lively here too. We have booked tickets to watch a performance in the evening and will also explore Shanghai after that ends in 2025. I hope we can all go smoothly and make more money in the new year. If there’s an opportunity
