City attractions see fewer holiday visits

More than 456,000 people had visited 130 major tourist attractions in Shanghai as of 3pm on Friday, first day of the five-day Labor Day holiday. That was a 64 percent decrease on the same period last year amid the coronavirus pandemic and rainy weather.

The city’s A-level tourist attractions have been ordered to implement mandatory reservation policies and keep visitors below 30 percent of capacity during the holiday to prevent mass gatherings.

The Shanghai Wild Animal Park had 13,800 visitors, a drop of 75.4 percent from May 1 last year, while the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum had 2,500, a decrease of 90.4 percent, according to the Shanghai Culture and Tourism Administration.

The Bund, Yuyuan and Lujiazui areas received 120,200, 24,700 and 120,700, down 44.32 percent, 59.01 percent and 48.03 percent respectively, according to the administration.

The Sheshan National Tourism Resort had 32,100, down 76.6 percent, while tourist attractions on Chongming Island welcomed 18,000 in total, a fall of 28 percent.

 Zhujiajiao ancient town had 5,000, down 89.6 percent, Chenshan Botanical Garden had 12,000, a drop of 13 percent, and numbers at Haichang Ocean Park were down 70 percent to 6,000.

There had been 15,600 visitors to 74 museums across the city by 3pm on Friday, while 63 exhibitions at 40 art galleries had a total of 7,000 visits.

Huangpu River cruise tours were enjoyed by 802 people as of 3pm, while the Huangpu waterfront, spanning five districts, saw 200,600 visitors.

Art galleries in Shanghai hosted 30 online activities, attracting 80,000 participants, and museums held 226 "cloud exhibitions," with over 220,000 views on Friday, the administration said.

The city's tourism hotline received 83 complaints and inquiries, down 65 percent.

As of 2pm on Friday, 5,245 hotels from 6,501 in the city had reopened, according to the administration.

Five irregularities were found by officials during inspections at 162 hotels on Friday, and their operators had been ordered to put things right.