A band performs at the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing, capital of China, May 2, 2021. The 2021 Strawberry Music Festival is held at Beijing Expo Park from May 2 to May 4. (Xinhua/Xiao Xiao)

 Data shows that China's entire entertainment industry is growing hotter this spring along with the increasing temperatures. Various types of dramas and performances are set to be staged, as concerts, music festivals and theaters are lining up to make official announcements. According to ticketing platform Damai, 47,000 performances in total were held from February to March, three times the number held in the same period in 2019. Industry insiders predict that the concert market will reach 3 billion yuan ($435 million) in the first half of 2023.

The Paper 



From frisbee to surfskating and pickleball, a number of novel sports have attracted the attention of many sport lovers over the past several years. But as those sports passed their "blowout moments," their popularity has cooled off. 

Experts noted that when the per capita GDP exceeds $10,000 for a country, citizens tend to have a higher acceptance for novel sports, which is perfectly in line with the industrial development trends here in China. However, they also noted that most of those sports trended due to the development of social media such Sina Weibo and Douyin. When the focus of the internet shifts, the popularity of these sports will decline with that shift.

Xinhua News Agency 



An article published on WeChat on Wednesday saying that Chengdu, a city in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, is going to bid for hosting the 2036 Olympic Games aroused netizens' interest. The article "disclosed" the bidding emblem for the 2036 Chengdu Olympic Games, which takes a panda as its theme. The Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau dismissed this statement, adding that nothing has been confirmed. Still, some netizens believe this could be an opportunity for Chengdu. "If it's true, it will be a good chance to let the world know more about Chengdu, hometown to pandas."

Shangyou News