春节假期提振旅游业

According to the National Holiday Tourism Office, the number of tourists traveling in China last week hit 176-million.

That's up 15 percent from the same period last year.

The increase brought up the country's tourism revenue by 23-percent during the 7-day holiday; the figure now stands at 100-billion yuan, or some 15-billion US-dollars.

5-percent of the revenue came from airline ticket fees.

Touring independently by car was more popular with travelers this year.

And 39-key tourist cities have attracted lots of independent travelers during the holiday.

Liangshan Moutain in eastern China's Shan Dong province proved to be one of the popular destinations.

Local resident Liu Mian drove his entire family to the mountain during the holidays and he enjoyed the trip.

"This year our family came here. It was pretty nice actually. They've got some great architecture on the top of the mountain. And those ancient buildings are well-preserved. The local people in this martial art town are quite nice; we feel welcomed."

At the same time, the number of trips to foreign countries, Taiwan and Hong Kong continued to increase sharply.

Tourism authorities of the Republic of Korea, say a total of 45-thousand Chinese people traveled to the country during the holiday.

That's a 30-percent increase from the same period last year.

Countries like Singapore, which has warmer winter temperatures, have also been attracting Chinese travelers during the holidays.

Cui Yan has spent 30-thousand yuan for a 6-day trip to Singapore.

"The weather was quite nice in Singapore and they've got great Spring Festival atmosphere as well. The local people were also celebrating the holiday. So that said, I think the money was well spent and it was a nice trip. And also I think traveling during holidays is good for a change of environment and mood. "

According to figures from major tourism service websites, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Bangkok are the most popular destinations for Chinese visitors during the week-long holiday.

Some experts in China predict that as people's income keeps increasing, Chinese tourism is going to expand further, along with other connected industries.

For CRI, I'm Shen Chengcheng.