Chang'e I, China's first lunar orbiter, continued its dance in outer space on Friday, completing its second orbital transfer to move a step further on its 380,000-km journey to Earth's only satellite.

The transfer that began at 4:50 PM took 54 minutes to complete. The probe was transferred to a 24-hour orbit with an apogee of 70,000 km, up from the previous 50,000 km, sources on an observation ship in the southern Pacific Ocean said.

Its first orbital transfer was completed on Thursday afternoon, after which the orbiter was transferred to a 16-hour orbit. It's expected to enter the Earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and reach the lunar orbit on November 5.

With Chang'e I moving closer to the moon, the 570,000 residents of Xichang in Sichuan Province from where it was launched, are busy counting the money they are making because of the lunar probe.

The total tourism revenue is expected to cross 100 million yuan (US$13 million), according to Chen Le, deputy chief of the local tourism bureau.

Most hotel rooms had been booked a month before Wednesday's launch, with taxi drivers earning an impressive average of 700 to 800 yuan (US$93-106) a day.

Travel agencies are still counting the record number of visitors to the till-now remote place.

Chang'e I has fundamentally changed the nature of the city, which has now become a full-fledged attraction for tourists, both from home and abroad.

"The visitors won't just see the launch site and leave; they naturally will hang around and visit nearby interesting places. It has had a chain effect," said Chen.

His bureau has sold about 30,000 tickets a day in Xichang's 20 major tourist attractions since October 20 - double the number sold during last year's National Day Golden Week holiday.

"Most visitors have come this year because of Chang'e I," he said.

Head of a local tourist firm Cao Yingxue couldn't agree more. The 51-year-old's agency provided tours - charging about 1,000 yuan (US$133) per ticket - to see Chang'e I lift off. As of Wednesday, Cao had collected about 2 million yuan (US$266,000) from this category alone.

People have made hay under the Chang'e I sun in other parts of the city too. Publishers, for example, have released several well-received books on the past and present of the lunar project.

(China Daily October 28, 2007)