CHICAGO, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Starting from Feb. 16, the first day of Chinese New Year, Chicago Fashion Outlet near Chicago O' Hare Airport has been giving out "Exclusive Lunar New Year Red Envelopes" with complementary savings pass enclosed.

The promotion, which offers customers 800 dollars in savings at participating stores, will last until March 4.

Chicago Fashion Outlet is not the sole retailer in Chicago celebrating Chinese New Year. To celebrate Chinese New Year, the Year of Dog, the Art Institute of Chicago opened an exhibition titled "Mirroring China's Past: Emperors and their Bronzes," and to complement visitors' experience, it is offering premium loose-leaf teas in their natural form, highlighting the rich heritage and culture of the Chinese tea experience, until May 13.

This is the fifth year in a row for Bloomingdales to mark Chinese Lunar New Year. The retailer's store in downtown Chicago put out an exclusive "Year of the Dog" small tote with a red dog on a gold background, which was quickly sold out. The high-profile department store has also put on shelf Giorgio Armani Chinese New Year Highlighting Palette, Yves Saint Laurent Chinese New Year Palette, and Sisley-Paris Phyto-Lip twist matte Chinese New Year 2018 limited edition.

The world's largest department store, Macy's, also participated in China's New Year celebrations. It put on sale a "Year of the Dog" gold compact from Estee Lauder, a key in Chinese traditional red and gold from Michael Kors, a special edition of satchel from Radley London, and a Lunar New Year gift card.

Thanks to efforts from both sides to promote people-to-people exchanges, more Chinese tourists are coming to U.S. Midwest. According to statistics provided by Choose Chicago, visitors to Chicago reached record 55.2 million in 2017, a 2.5 percent increase from 2016. Chicago's tourism industry supported an estimated 146,500 jobs in 2017, a 17 percent increase from 2011.

Chinese tourists to Chicago reached 192,561 in 2016, up 22.7 percent from 2015.