BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's box office takings topped 5 billion yuan (774.5 million U.S. dollars) during the first four days of the Spring Festival holiday that started on Feb. 11, according to figures released by the China Movie Data Information Network at 11:50 p.m. Sunday.

Data showed that 34.5 million people went to cinemas on Feb. 12, the first day of the Lunar New Year, creating a box office revenue of 1.7 billion yuan. Both figures were the highest in China's film history.

Chinese comedy hits "Detective Chinatown 3" and "Hi, Mom" ruled the holiday box office grossing 2.3 billion yuan and 900 million yuan, respectively.

The weeklong Spring Festival holiday is usually a busy moviegoing period in China. People have been more keen to go to cinemas this year as millions of Chinese avoided travel and stayed put for the Spring Festival in response to the government's call to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections during the travel rush. China has brought sporadic COVID-19 cases under control during the holiday.