Tourists view the scenery of the Slender West Lake during the Qingming Festival holidays in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Meng Delong)
China saw 112 million domestic tourist trips during the three-day Qingming Festival from last Friday to Sunday, up 10.9 percent compared to last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Tourism revenue reached 47.9 billion yuan (about 7.1 billion U.S. dollars) during the holiday, up 13.7 percent year-on-year.
Short-distance tours take up over 60 percent of the trips made during the period. Appreciating flower blossoms, hiking in urban outskirts, and picking up fruits and vegetables at orchards and farms for recreational and commercial purposes were top choices for those who went out as a family or group.
Online ticket sales for red tourism scenic spots in China saw a year-on-year increase of 55.2 percent. Local history museums, as well as cemetery parks and memorial halls of heroes and martyrs across the country held themes activities in honor of the departed. Tourists found it meaningful to pay tribute to those who paved way for the life we enjoy now by visiting these museums and parks.
For cultural tourism, programs ranged from exhibitions to operas. Folk culture was appreciated during the holiday, hence destinations including museums, townships of cultural heritages, places for worship and praying, and counties with unique customs and traditions were all popular choices for tourists. Signature food of Qingming Festival wouldn't be missed, either. For example, the West Lake in east China's Hangzhou offered Qingtuan, a traditional dessert of the Qingming Festival, for free on the first day of the holiday.
