China sees robust tourism during May Day holiday

Passengers walk into Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, May 5, 2021. During the five-day Labor Day holiday, about 4.03 million passenger trips were made via 117 railway stations administered by China Railway Wuhan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. (Photo by Zhao Jun/Xinhua)

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- China witnessed robust tourism during the five-day May Day holiday, which ended on Wednesday, as COVID-19 has been brought under control and the vaccination rate is rising steadily in the country.

China saw a total of 230 million domestic tourist trips during the holiday, up 119.7 percent from last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

BEIJING

Beijing's municipal parks and scenic areas received a total of 7.68 million tourist visits during the holiday, said the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau.

The figure represented a growth of 77 percent year on year. It was also 6 percent higher than the same period of 2019.

More than 68 cultural activities featuring flower exhibitions and folk customs have been launched in parks, and the city has seen 172 flower-themed zones pop up since the beginning of spring, each with an area of over 1,000 square meters.

SHANGHAI

Shanghai recorded 16.89 million tourist visits during the May Day holiday, up 138.88 percent compared with the same period of 2020, according to the city's culture and tourism bureau.

Consumption driven by tourism reached approximately 40 billion yuan (about 6.18 billion U.S. dollars) during the holiday, data from card payment giant China UnionPay shows.

The 170 scenic areas in Shanghai saw 6.64 million tourist visits, up 143 percent year on year. Key cultural sites in Shanghai received 1.65 million visits.

TIANJIN

China's northern port city of Tianjin received more than 6.4 million tourist visits during the holiday, up 15.1 percent from the same period in 2019, said the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.

Tianjin's tourism revenue totaled 4.8 billion yuan during the holiday, up 30.5 percent from the same period in 2019.

The city also saw its consumption markets soar during the holiday, said the municipal commission of commerce.

Data from the commission shows that 191 commercial enterprises in Tianjin raked in a total of 1.26 billion yuan during the holiday, up 19.8 percent from the same period last year.

Passengers walk to board a high-speed train in Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, May 5, 2021. During the five-day Labor Day holiday, about 4.03 million passenger trips were made via 117 railway stations administered by China Railway Wuhan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. (Photo by Zhao Jun/Xinhua)

HUBEI

Central China's Hubei Province saw 43.2 million tourist arrivals during the five-day holiday, up 13.53 percent from the same period in 2019. The province's total tourism revenue hit 19.8 billion yuan, an increase of 11.52 percent from 2019, according to the provincial department of culture and tourism.

The Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Hubei's capital city, was the second most popular tourist attraction in China during the holiday, according to a report published by online life services platform Meituan.

JIANGSU

East China's Jiangsu Province received over 35 million tourist visits during the holiday, up 154.2 percent compared to the same period of last year, said the provincial department of culture and tourism.

Rural areas in the province received more than 11 million visitor arrivals, up 126.37 percent from the same period last year. Tourism revenue totaled approximately 30 billion yuan, up 160.7 percent year on year.

SHAANXI

A total of 299,342 visitors traveled to Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to see the famous Terracotta Warriors during the holiday, according to the museum.

YUNNAN

Southwest China's Yunnan Province welcomed over 17.8 million visitor arrivals during the holiday, up 119.7 percent compared with the same period in 2019, said the provincial department of culture and tourism. Its tourism revenue topped 12.8 billion yuan, up 122.7 percent from 2019.

HAINAN

China's southern island province of Hainan raked in approximately 993 million yuan in offshore duty-free sales during the holiday, up 248 percent year on year, according to Haikou Customs.

Duty-free shops in Hainan received 121,000 customer visits and sold 1.35 million duty-free goods, up 141 percent and 229 percent year on year, respectively.

GUANGXI

South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region received over 22 million tourist visits during the May Day holiday, up 198.2 percent year on year. Tourism consumption totaled 18.3 billion yuan, up 261.6 percent year on year, said the regional department of culture and tourism.

During the holiday, bookings of rural B&Bs in popular regional tourist destinations such as Beihai and Guilin increased by 220 percent year on year.