Chinese Stay at Home on National Day HolidayMost Chinese families have heeded official warnings to stay away from tourist sites during the week-long National Day holidays, state media reported Friday.Only 25 percent of China's biggest tourist sites were "full" over the last four days, according to information obtained from the National Tourism Administration. The sacred Huangshan Mountain in Anhui province was among the country's most neglected sites. It was visited by less than 20,000 people in the first four days of the holiday which started on October 1, far less than its maximum capacity of 50,000 visitors per day. The Badaling section of the Great Wall was equally neglected, with only 39,500 visitors on Wednesday, compared to the 60,000 which usually visit the site during an ordinary weekend. To avoid a repetition of the crowding seen in a holiday week in May, the authorities warned tourists to stay at home. Chinese holiday-makers took the call to heart, with sites which were taken by storm last May seeing far fewer visitors than normal. The tourist "boom" of past years has started to wane, partly because of a rapid rise in prices, combined with a more "sensible" attitude from tourists, the China Daily quoted experts as saying. In a bid to prompt reluctant consumers spending again, Chinese authorities gave workers a third week-long holiday this year. With around 722 billion US dollars stashed away in bank accounts, China has one of the highest savings rates in the world. And since 1998, reform of ailing state-owned firms has generated a wave of lay-offs and increased costs for health, housing and education, further adding to the incentive to save. |
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