Holiday makers flocking to tourism spots as spring begins
Citizens and tourists flock to the Xujiahui Park on Friday.
Shanghai's tourist attractions and railway stations received a surging number of people on Friday as the weeklong Spring Festival holiday has passed more than half.
Citizens and tourists flocked to the city's tourism spots amid the sunny weather on lichun, the first of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, meaning the start of spring. The lingering rain ended and the highest temperature rose to about 8 degrees Celsius on Friday.
The Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Natural History Museum, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and Yuyuan Garden malls have become the most popular sites.
Over 5,000 people visited the natural history museum in downtown, which has a maximum capacity of 5,900 people.
Yuyuan Garden malls received some 1,400 visitors, or half of its capacity. People are attracted by the annual traditional lantern shows and Chinese New Year celebrations.
Citizens and tourists pose at the Xujiahui Park on Friday.
The city's culture and tourism authority asked visitors to wear masks, keep social distance and obey other COVID-19 prevention measures.
The railway network in the Yangtze River Delta region transported some 760,000 travelers on Friday, mainly people returning to Shanghai from neighboring cities, the China Railway Shanghai Group said.
The largest number of railway passengers during the holiday marks the beginning of a travel peak for returning flows to the city. Some locals also chose to take short-distance trips to neighboring cities such as Nanjing in Jiangsu Province in the middle of the holiday.
The group has transported a total of 1.91 million passengers during the first four days of the holiday, a large increase to that of 2021.
Railway travelers are reminded to spare additional time and wear masks during the travel peak.
To cap the rising demands of arrivals, Shanghai's road transport center will open 24 special bus lines from Saturday at local railway stations, airports and Metro lines.
