Scenic areas reopen in nearly 20 Chinese provinces, cities as epidemic wanes

Nearly 20 provinces and cities across China have reopened their tourist sites as the coronavirus outbreak subsides, Beijing Daily reported on Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, tourism operations have been resumed in regions at the municipal and provincial levels including Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guizhou, with travel agencies organizing trips around neighboring places, according to the newspaper.

China has steadily pushed forward the resumption of work and production in the tourism sector, which shows signs of fast recovery since the epidemic has leveled off late this month.

The paper cited a report, conducted by China's largest online travel agency Trip.com Group, showing that more than 2,000 tourist sites have resumed their online booking or pre-sale services, with ticket orders soaring at a rate of 100 percent a week.

The total number of tourists in the country during last weekend had increased by 91 percent over the previous weekend, according to data from qunar.com, another Chinese leading online travel service operator, cited by the newspaper.

While the industry geared up for post-epidemic opportunities, there are no signs of relaxation in prevention.

Measures such as registration of personal information, regular disinfection, body temperature monitoring and cap on daily visitors are strictly implemented at all tourist attractions to lower the risks of infection.

Some places are taking things a step further by encouraging a shift in catering etiquette.

Zhang Ning, executive deputy general manager of Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, said they have been providing tourists with packed food instead of a tableful of dishes for the guests to share.

"Those measures made our trip much safer," said Zhou Zhipeng, who traveled from Shangrao City in western Jiangxi.