国内英语新闻:Tourism booms in first day of China's National Day holiday

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- About 122 million Chinese people traveled around the country on Monday, the first day of the week-long National Day holiday, a 7.54 percent year-on-year growth, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT).

Domestic tourism revenue generated on Monday reached 103 billion yuan (15 billion U.S. dollars), up 7.19 percent year on year, according to China Tourism Academy (National Tourism Data Center) under the MCT.

Tourists participated in various activities across the country to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At the Tian'anmen Square, located in the heart of Beijing, some 145,000 tourists gathered to watch the flag-raising ceremony in the early morning.

A number of attractions across the country also offered more affordable admission fees. Until Sept. 28, the public were informed with offers of free admission in 74 attractions and lowered admission fees in 907 scenic areas.

Prior to the National Day holiday, one of China's major public holidays, a total of 97.9 million tourists were received across the country during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday lasting from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24.

In the first half of 2018, 2.8 billion Chinese traveled domestically, up by 11.4 percent year on year.