On Jan 11, the Kunshan lantern festival was awarded China’s most distinctive cultural tourist festival during the Chinese New Tourist Era -- 2013 Yearly Brands Recommendation Ceremony. The ceremony was themed around ecological, livable and relaxing resorts and cultural tourism in a new era. It invited experts from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), tourism investment planning agencies and tourism industry to join.

The 2013 Cross-Straits (Kunshan) Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival used a lantern show, cultural performances, a parade, delicacies and lantern riddles to reflect the hope for win-win cooperation and development between Taiwan and Kunshan. The lantern festival displayed the beauty of lantern art through various lantern shows. It also helped tourists experience wonderful snacks with a cross-Straits delicacy festival.

The lantern festival has attracted 768,000 tourists to date, bringing in 845 million yuan ($139.61 million) in tourism income. During the history of the lantern festival, Kunshan has become a hot spot of economy, culture and tourism across the Straits, as well as the top destination for tourists from the Yangtze River Delta.

According to the Kunshan tourism bureau, the Kunshan Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival will be an important event for Kunshan and Taiwan cultural exchange in the future.