The Chinese have been enjoying themselves by sightseeing or traveling during the Spring Festival this year rather than engaging in the traditional gathering of relatives and friends at home.

In the past five days, over 200,000 Beijingers spent the one-week Spring Festival holiday shopping in Tianjin, a nearby municipality.

Low prices of consumer goods and the convenient railway service enable Beijingers to visit the neighboring city during the day.

Statistics show that over six million Beijingers visited the city last year.

While unlike previous years, an increasing number of Tianjiners went to Beijing during the Spring Festival to visit scenic spots in the capital.

Tourism has been heating up in the last few years. An increase in income and longer holidays have made it possible for Chinese to

relax after a year of work.

Statistics show that around 100 flights had landed in or had taken off from the Zhuhai airport in south China's Guangdong Province in the first three days of the Spring Festival. Many passengers from Beijing, Kunming and Shanghai visited the small coastal city.

The Spring Festival has also presented opportunities for children to acquire scientific and historic knowledge in museums. Many parents took their children to museums instead of department stores or entertainment centers.

The Tianjin Nature Museum staff said they received over 1,200 visitors yesterday, four times that of the usual amount. To attract visitors, the museum opened a snake display to acknowledge the year of the snake, as according to China's lunar calendar.

(People’s Daily 01/30/2001)