| Thousands of people used the Mid-Autumn Festival break to take short tours in and around the city.
The suburbs and surrounding provinces were hot destinations, while some downtown scenic spots, such as the newly opened Shanghai World Financial Center, also experienced considerable visitor volume. Tourists rushed to travel out of the city on Saturday, the start of the three-day holiday. The Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center sent more than 14,600 tourists out of the city, near half on Saturday. "Zhouzhuang, Wuzhen and Zhujiajiao were popular among tourists," said Xu Zhuoru, an official with the center, referring to nearby water towns. "Although the weather was not perfect, tourists could still have a rest during the trips." In downtown, the three skyscrapers in Pudong became the main travel focus. Officials at the Shanghai World Financial Center said the tourist numbers were about 20 percent higher than usual. "Tourists had to wait in line for about an hour to get a ticket," said an official surnamed Wang at the center's observatory. "On the weekends before, the wait was about 20 minutes." Though taller, the SWFC didn't steal the whole show from the other two skyscrapers, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Jin Mao Tower. "We had about 30 percent more visitors during the holiday than last year for the same period," said Cai Qi at the TV tower. Jin Mao Tower officials said the Chinese-style restaurants and the Jin Mao Cafe experienced good bookings during the holiday. (Shanghai Daily September 16, 2008) |
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