Citizens flock to natural attractions and amusement facilities in post-lockdown breakout
A swinging good time for riders and observers at the reopened Shanghai Happy Valley.
Visitors appreciate the blooming beauty of nature at Chenshan Botanical Garden on Friday.
Leisure time at Binjiang Forest Park on Friday.
Visitors queue to enter Shanghai Happy Valley.
On the city's first official holiday after the citywide lockdown is over, group tours resumed and city residents stepped out of their homes to embrace nature.
Disrupted by the COVID-19 resurgence, Shanghai's badly-hit tourism market is rebounding gradually as residents release their travel urges.
On early Friday morning, Xue Zihan, a third-grader, got on a bus with her mother in a tour group heading for Chongming Island.
It was her first trip after the lockdown and she was excited.
"I really missed nature as I did nothing but attended online classes and read books when I was locked down at home," said Xue. "Traveling and a sumptuous banquet are what I long for."
The trip, organized by Shanghai Spring Tour, involved an agricultural base and Xisha Wetland in Chongming.
People lap up the beauty of nature at Chenshan Botanical Garden on Friday.
A tourist dresses up for a trip to Guyi Garden.
People scan their health code to take a trip to Chongming on Friday.
Strict pandemic prevention measures were in place for the trip.
Disinfection of the tour bus, health management of tour guides and tourists and emergency plans were highlighted, said Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of the travel agency.
Tourists needed to have a negative nucleic acid test result within the previous 72 hours to take the trip and wear their masks throughout the journey.
The Binjiang Forest Park in the Pudong New Area said all its reservation slots for Friday were fully booked early that morning and it received 13,171 visitors in total on the day.
The Shanghai Zoo in Changning District had 12,500 visitors on Friday, while Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District welcomed 10,610 on the day.
Guyi Garden in Jiading District, which reopened on Friday, received 1,100 visitors. Amusement parks in Shanghai have also reopened during the holiday.
A busy vehicle flow on the expressway to Chongming
Queues outside Shanghai Happy Valley on Friday
The water surges with marine energy for people wanting to capture nature in their lenses at Guyi Garden.
Flowers in full bloom at Chenshan Botanical Garden.
Shanghai Happy Valley in Songjiang District resumed operations on Friday. The number of visitors was kept below 75 percent of its maximum capacity.
Reservations were mandatory for entry and a negative nucleic acid test result within the previous 72 hours was also required.
People were ordered to observe seating distance while using the amusement facilities, which were disinfected after each ride.
Shanghai-based online travel operator Trip.com said the number of orders it received on the first day of the three-day holiday grew 37 percent from the first day of the May Day holiday.
Daily bookings of tickets for Shanghai Binjiang Forest Park and Oriental Pearl TV Tower soared over 20 times and 11 times respectively, during the holiday on average compared with that of March.
"The market confidence is up thanks to the waning pandemic situation in domestic cities," said Fang Zeqian, a tourism analyst.
Another online travel operator, Tongcheng-eLong, said it had experienced an abrupt growth in bookings and search volume since the lockdown ended in Shanghai.
Among the reopening of A-level tourist attractions, the most popular were Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Sheshan National Forest Park and Chenshan Botanical Garden, Tongcheng said.
Although Shanghai Disney Resort has not reopened, it had the most searches among attractions in Shanghai, according to the travel operator.
A pleasant time for all at the reopened Shanghai Happy Valley.
People ride the merry-go-round at Shanghai Happy Valley on Friday.
Children splash around in the waters at Shanghai Happy Valley on Friday.
