The October holiday madness is officially over. As always, travel in China was absolutely crazy during the past seven days – and we have the pictures to prove it. But things in Beijing weren’t quite as busy as they have been in years past.
During the weeklong holiday, Beijing hosted 11.2 million tourists. According to local tourism officials, that number is actually down 2.8 percent compared to 2015, Global Times reports.
While many of the city’s main tourist spots – including historical sites and popular parks – saw fewer visitors than in previous years, major sites in Beijing still received massive amounts of tourists during Golden Week.
On October 2, The Forbidden City sold over 20,000 tickets in just two hours. That’s an average of 166 tickets sold every minute, Quartz reports.
READ MORE: Transportation Mayhem Caps off October Holiday (PHOTOS)
While the city's more popular attractions saw fewer visitors than usual, Beijing's suburban attractions received over 4.3 million visitors, up from 9.3 percent.
Roughly 2.76 million of those who visited Beijing during the National Day holiday were domestic travelers, a decline of 1.1 percent compared to last year.
However, the overall decrease in visitors to China's capital this year did not impact spending. Roughly RMB8.4 billion (USD1.27 billion) was spent in Beijing over the holiday, an increase of 1.1 percent over last year.
Visitors to Beijing spent an average of RMB2485 per person during the holiday. According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development that’s an increase of 3.2 percent versus 2015.
[Images via EPA/WU HONG]
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