At least 116 main tourist attractions across China received 28.9 million visitors the first day of the golden week holidays starting from May 1, up 17 percent over the same period of last year.

The tourism income generated from the day increased by 25 percent compared with last year, according to Beijing News Daily.

The holiday marking the International Worker's Day has become a major opportunity for the Chinese people to spend money and time out of their homes. Many families have chosen to travel to other provinces and even go abroad.

The number of travelers received by Beijing, one of China's most attractive tourism destinations, increased by 11.6 percent over the same period of last year. The number of visitors rushing to the Forbidden City has even exceeded the palace's capacity to hold them. Subways and buses transported a total of 12 million people on Monday alone in this Chinese capital.

More than 1 million people traveled to Hangzhou, a famous tourism city in east China's Zhejiang Province, known as "a paradise on the earth", up 93.86 percent over the same period of last year, and 220 thousands of Hangzhou residents went outdoor to enjoy themselves, according to local press.

The number of travelers to Shanghai during the seven-day holidays is estimated to reach 3.9 million.

Other places of interest in China has also witnessed a large increase of travelers compared with last year.

Government departments have warned the travelers of safety and frauds by some illegal travel agencies. The National Office in Charge of Holidays have received 22 complaints through telephone so far.

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2006)