China earned 55.9 billion yuan (6.99 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue during the first week of October, the National Day "Golden Week" holiday, up 20.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Holiday Office.

The country received 133 million tourists, up 19.3 percent, with each tourist spending an average of 420 yuan (52.5 U.S. dollars).

Tourists visit Yuyuan Garden, one of Shanghai's main attractions, as it rains in China's financial capital on October 2, 2006. China is celebrating a week-long National Day holiday or "Golden Week" holiday, which runs from October 1 to 7. [Reuters]

The number of tourists staying in hotels reached 34.05 million during the week-long break, up 19.2 percent. Over 98 million travelers made day trips, up 19.3 percent, said sources with the National Tourism Administration (NTA) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Airline revenues hit 2.45 billion yuan (306.25 million U.S. dollars), as much as a year ago, and the country's railways earned1.31 billion yuan (163.76 million U.S.dollars) in revenue from passenger transportation, a 19.3 percent increase.

The 39 major tourism cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Wuxi, Shanghai, Sanya and Chengdu, hosted 51.29 million tourists, reaping a total of 24.1 billion yuan in tourism revenue. Other cities and scenic spots earned 28 billion yuan.

A total of 119 famous scenic spots across China received over 17.42 million visitors during the "Golden Week", collecting 608 million yuan (76 million U.S. dollars) from ticket sales.

The Chinese government extended the duration of the traditional Spring Festival, May Day and National Day holidays to seven days each in 1999, creating the so-called "Golden Week" to boost domestic demand, stimulate consumption and restructure the economy.

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