Chinese will for the first time have a day off on Mid-Autumn Day next Sunday, thanks to a national holiday system overhaul adopted last year.

The capital will also have some Paralympics flavor.

Many tourists are expected to visit the host city during the vacation, from Sept. 13 to 15 plus the weekend, to see the Olympic venues such as the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, back in use for the Sept. 6-17 Paralympics.

"Hotel rooms were too expensive during the Olympics and the constant traffic controls must have been a headache to visitors. So we chose to come here now when the Olympic atmosphere is still on" but hotels are cheaper, said a tourist from east China's Jiangsu Province.

Many travel agencies offer tourists a chance to watch the Paralympic events and visit venues during the Paralympics. Such plans are popular, especially those involving events at the Water Cube.

"I am glad to get a ticket for the Paralympics," said a man surnamed Cai in south China's Guangzhou City, who booked his ticket from an agency.

The country added the Mid-Autumn Festival, along with the other two traditional festivals -- Tomb-Sweeping Day and Dragon-boat Festival -- to the list of public holidays last year, to uphold traditions.

The Mid-Autumn Festival involves the legend of Chang'e, the beautiful wife of Hou Yi, a hero who shot down nine suns that scorched the Earth. The holiday falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, or Sept. 14 this year.

The festival is an occasion for families to congregate, eat moon cakes, and light lanterns while enjoying the full moon, a symbol of abundance, harmony and luck.

Moon cake makers in Beijing were inspired this year by the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For example, one baker made moon cakes in the image of the Bird's Nest.

Athletes at the Olympic Village were also offered moon cakes ahead of the actual holiday to give them a taste of tradition.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2008)