Restaurants see 50% of tables reserved ahead of holiday

The autumn holiday boom for Shanghai restaurants came earlier than usual this year.

More than 50 percent of tables at the city's major restaurants have already been booked for dinner during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, local media reported Wednesday.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 30 this year, is followed by the National Day holiday in October, giving local residents a break of eight days in a row, this year's longest national holiday.

"The collision of two major holidays has to some extent prompted people to make reservations earlier," Jin Peihua, deputy secretary-general at the Shanghai Restaurants Association, told the Global Times.

The association found that 80 percent of tables at the city's most famous restaurants have been booked for the eight-day break, according to the Shanghai Morning Post report.

"Reservation rates are particularly high for the first five days," Jin told the Global Times.

Prices as local restaurants have risen between 3 percent and 5 percent this year, according to the association. Jin said prices are up because of an increase in food and operating costs, with some restaurants updating their special menus for the holidays.

"We have seen an increase in demand in the run-up to the holidays," a sales manager surnamed Wang from Xinghualou, a popular local restaurant chain, told the Global Times.

Private dining rooms at the restaurant's location on Fuzhou Road are already completely booked, Wang said.