Fewer passengers traveled by train and air during the seven-day National Day holiday than the Labor Day holiday, according to statistics from the China National Tourism Administration.
About 24.5 million people traveled by train, 10.6 percent less than the figure during the Labor Day holiday. Flights carried 1.4 million people, around 20 percent less.
The decrease does not represent a decline in the tourism industry, analysts said. Many people chose to travel within their provinces or regions, fearing that the crowds might make long-distance travel unpleasant.
More than eight million people in south China's Guangdong Province chose to travel within the province, many of them using their own or rented cars.
Some local tourism sites near Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other major cities attracted more local people than tourists from distant places.
Various sales and discounted services were among the reasons why people stayed at home rather than traveling to other cities during the holiday.
(People’s Daily 10/09/2000)
