New area's appeal goes far and wide

Local folk arts and culture have been main attractions for visitors

The China National Tourism Administration announced on Friday that more than 67 million trips were made that day, generating 54.6 billion yuan ($8.2 billion).

The number was 12 percent more than the same day last year, the authority said, adding that destinations with distinct cultures and folk arts had been the most popular with visitors.

"Our performances and tourism projects relating to local folk arts and culture attracted many visitors," said Zhang Kexin, deputy director of the tourism administration of Anxin county in Hebei province.

For example, visitors could enjoy folklore shows in a grand view lotus garden in Baiyangdian, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in North China, as well as fishing or sailing at Wangjiazhai, a cultural village in the area, according to Zhang.

Ma Hepeng, deputy manager of the lotus garden, said the garden received about 4,000 visitors on Oct 1, of whom, 30 percent came from outside the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Anxin is part of the Xiongan New Area, the national level economic zone announced by the central leadership on April 1. It has proved to be one of the hottest travel destinations during the Golden Week holiday, the nation's top tourism authority said.

"I came to Xiongan with my friends as we want to see whether the cultural performance market is good. If possible, we'll consider investing in the area," said one visitor from Macao.

A report by the China Tourism Academy in late September estimated that the tourism industry would make 590 billion yuan during the National Day holiday this year, up 12.2 percent from last year, while the number of trips made by tourists might exceed 710 million over the eight days.

And Hebei has been playing its part in that, the province received 5.86 million trips and made 3.8 billion yuan from tourism on Thursday, according to the national tourism administration on that day.

Data from the China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, one of the country's leading providers of travel services, showed that Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou in Jiangsu province were the top three travel destinations during the holiday.

And, according to iqilu.com, an official website of Shandong provincial broadcasting and television station, about 60 percent of travelers nationwide during the holiday were women.