Beijing sees robust tourism during Dragon Boat Festival

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The three-day Dragon Boat Festival has seen robust tourism in Beijing, as it received a total of 7.79 million visitors during the holiday between Saturday and Monday.

According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, more than 2,100 cultural and tourism events were launched to attract visitors, whose total tourism spending topped 10 billion yuan (about 1.38 billion U.S. dollars).

The shopping streets of Wangfujing and Qianmen, the historic area Nanluoguxiang Lane, the Beijing Olympic Park, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven are among the most visited attractions.

Statistics from the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau showed that footfall in 60 key business zones across the city exceeded 22.8 million, an increase of 10.3 percent from last year, while the consumption amount reached 6.57 billion yuan, an increase of 12.9 percent.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is a traditional holiday in China. This year, it fell on Monday, the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

During the holiday China saw 110 million domestic tourist trips made, up 6.3 percent from the same period last year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Monday.