Beijingers prefer traveling in APEC holiday

Residents in Beijing are traveling outside of the city during the six-day holiday designated by the government for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, mainly to warmer places with cleaner air.

Data from travel agencies show tour sales have seen tremendous growth compared with the same period of last year since the government announced the Nov. 7-12 public holiday early last month, with APEC meetings scheduled in the city around that time.

Sun Liqun, manager of China International Travel Service, told Xinhua that sales of domestic travel bookings doubled versus the same period last year. "Outbound trips, mainly to Southeast Asia, have also risen by almost 40 percent."

According to Ctrip.com, another major agency, the eastern and southern parts of China have attracted the most tourists. "We have launched products catered to high-speed bullet train passengers. The sales are more than 10 times higher than in the same period of last year," said Zhang Hui, a manager of Ctrip.com.

As an added bonus, traveling during the period is cheaper than normal as it is normally the low season following the annual "golden week" National Day holiday from Oct. 1 to 7.

"As sales went up recently, air tickets are more expensive now, but the prices of hotels and local traffic remain about the same as last year. So, all in all, the prices are more attractive than during the National Day holiday," said Sun Liqun.