2026 Songhua Lake Opening Fish Food Season to Launch in Jilin City

On April 15th, the Information Office of Jilin Provincial People’s Government held a press conference to introduce details of the 2026 Jilin City Songhua Lake Opening Fish Food Season and spring cultural and tourism activities. Responsible comrades from Jilin City, Jiaohe City, Huadian City, as well as Jilin City Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism and Jilin City Songhua Lake Administration answered reporters’ questions.

It is reported that the Songhua Lake Opening Fish Food Season has been held for 16 sessions. This year’s event will run from April 18th to May 5th, covering the May Day holiday. According to China Youth Net, the food season highlights interaction with the Changchun modern urban circle, with a special area for intangible cultural heritage (ICH) performances of Songhua Lake opening fish set up on Xinmin Street in Changchun.

The area will display and sell fresh fish, showcase fishing and hunting culture with ICH performances, and exhibit calligraphy and painting works. In addition, sales points for Songhua Lake opening fish will be opened at catering institutions such as Changchun Eurasia Mall and Xinxing Garden. The custom of eating opening fish in Jilin dates back to the Liao and Jin dynasties, and it has now been endowed with new connotations of cultural and tourism integration.

Jiaohe City and Huadian City will serve as branch venues for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Songhua Lake Opening Fish Food Season, launching a variety of rich products. Centering on three dimensions — "tasting spring flavors, enjoying spring scenery and keeping spring appointments", Jiaohe City will launch an exclusive experience period for "Qingling live fish" during the event.

It has also designed three scenic routes: the Qishan Valley Sightseeing Tour, the Romantic Flower Sea Check-in Tour and the Boating on the Blue Waves Tour, as well as leisure activities such as the 2026 Northern China (Jiaohe) Camping Season to enrich spring characteristic cultural and tourism products.

Huadian City will offer a spring feast integrating fish tasting, scenery appreciation and shopping through various measures, including holding an opening ceremony, setting up opening fish sales areas, connecting "fish tasting + scenery appreciation + exploration" premium routes with check-in spots, integrating the whole-region formats to create a spring consumption boom and organizing themed art performances.

Meanwhile, to comprehensively improve the quality of cultural and tourism services and optimize tourists’ travel experience, Jilin City officially launched the "Dadongshan Water · Jixin Service" cultural and tourism service brand in spring this year. According to Xinhua News Agency, the brand is committed to creating warm and down-to-earth exclusive services for tourists at home and abroad.

On April 18th, the opening day of the food season, the two branch venues in Jiaohe and Huadian will start simultaneously. As a cultural and tourism card of Jilin City, Songhua Lake Scenic Area will focus on three directions — ecological food, premium routes and characteristic activities, integrating delicious food, beautiful scenery and public joy to show tourists a more vivid and rich cultural and tourism charm.