West Lake tops scenic areas in China with a record 2.82m May Day holiday visitors
Hangzhou's picturesque West Lake drew over 2.82 million visitors during the May Day holiday, ranking first among all scenic areas across China with a 14.4 percent increase over the same period of 2019.
More than 6.35 million people visited the downtown area, skyrocketing 289.89 percent year on year. About 10.74 million people toured the scenic attractions in Hangzhou, a 213 percent jump over the same period last year. The total ticket sales reached 88.2 million yuan (US$12.8 million) during the five-day holiday.
The West Lake, Songcheng theme park, Hubin Pedestrian Street, Hefang Street, Leifeng Pagoda, the Grand Canal Scenic Area, Archeological Ruins of Liangzhu City and Xixi Wetland were the eight most popular among tourists.
Over 845,600 people swarmed to the Hubin Pedestrian Street, 512,300 visitors flocked to Songcheng and 386,900 tourists thronged into Hefang Street.
The number of out-of-town tourists accounted for 48 percent, with the majority coming from Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, local authorities said.
Hangzhou Commerce Bureau said citywide consumption amount reached around 14.6 billion yuan, a 40.9 percent increase over the previous May Day holiday period and 36.7 percent higher than the Chinese New Year holiday.
Visitors enjoy a roadshow at Southern Song Imperial Street. The historical thoroughfare is where emperors would go to offer sacrifices to their ancestors at the temple or for other important events.
The retailing industry enjoyed a windfall, with revenue amounting to 7.4 billion yuan. Meanwhile, people spent over 2.6 billion yuan on dining out during the five days.
Over 75 percent of overnight travelers accommodated in hotels in Shangcheng, Gongshu, Xihu and Xiaoshan districts and Chun'an County. Citywide hotels welcomed over 1.52 million overnight travelers, an increase of 400 percent year on year. According to statistics of monitored hotels, about 55 percent of the orders were above 600 yuan per room.
The public transportation also broke record of 2019, with over 286,800 trips by bus citywide. The No. 7 bus linking Hangzhou Railway Station and Linying Temple transported over 60,000 passengers per day.
Hangzhou also saw a jump in passenger flows across the railway sector. Nearly 397,300 railway passenger trips were made on May 1. On April 28, the day before the holiday, about 144,000 air passenger trips were made.
Wulin Street welcomed 120,000 visitors on the first day of the May Day holiday. Yam noodles and roasted sausages were among the favorites.
The majority of visitors came to Hangzhou for leisure. To boost the economy, local government distributed consumption coupons worthy of 6.85 million yuan, stimulating approximately 333.77 million yuan of transactions.
Sales at 25 shopping malls increased by 38 percent year on year, totaling 752 million yuan. Among these, the top three retail malls, Hangzhou Tower, Hubin Yintai and Hubin Wulin, saw sales increase by 66 percent, 73 percent and 63 percent respectively.
The newly revamped Wulin Street welcomed 120,000 visitors on the first day of the holiday, and the number jumped to 180,000 on the second day. Cleaners delivered over 150 big waste containers every night. They had to work in shifts for 24 hours.
Wulin Night Fair has carved out booths for people with disabilities. Their creative handicrafts have found favor with visitors during the holiday.
Zhao Xilong and Yang Hongwei are disabled brothers. Their products are hand-woven with palm leaves, priced from 20 to 30 yuan. The sales volume is 1,000 yuan a day on weekends but tripled during the May Day holiday.
Not far from the brothers, 43-year-old deaf woman, Wu Jingxia, sells handmade pastries, fabrics and artistic paper flowers. Wu only sets up the stall at weekends with sales volume around 800 yuan a day. May Day holiday helped her make a big profit.
