BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The city of Beijing has seen marked increases in tourist figures during this year's Qingming Festival holiday that concluded on Saturday, official data showed.
During the three-day holiday, the Chinese capital received more than 9 million tourist visits, marking an increase of 84.5 percent year on year and an 8.5-percent rise from the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
The city raked in 10.5 billion yuan (about 1.48 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue during the holiday, representing a 60.1-percent increase from the same holiday period last year and an increase of 8.6 percent from 2019.
Wangfujing shopping street, Nanluoguxiang Lane known for its well-preserved quadrangle courtyards, and the Summer Palace, are among the city's most-visited tourist attractions. Several parks are also on the list of the top tourist destinations.
The city also saw booming consumption during the holiday, with 60 major business clusters receiving 21.68 million visits, a yearly increase of 4.4 percent, according to the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau.
Some shopping complexes, including Surprise Outlets and Capital Outlets, have reported increases of more than 50 percent in holiday sales.
The Qingming Festival, also known as the Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese festival for people to pay tribute to the deceased, worship ancestors and go on spring outings.
Amid an ongoing tourism boom, China anticipated a daily average of 250.95 million inter-regional trips during the holiday, marking a 56.1-percent increase compared with the same period last year and a 20.9-percent increase from 2019, according to the Ministry of Transport data. ■
