With the May Day holiday just around the corner, most hotels in major tourist cities in the country have reportedly been booked up in advance.

Tourism information released by the National Tourism Administration on Wednesday warned that tourists should book hotel rooms as early as possible if they want to travel during the seven-day holiday.

The information briefing said all major tourist cities had performed special inspections of top tourist sites and hotels and the results showed that travelers' safety can be fully guaranteed during the peak traveling period.

Beijing in particular has prepared various tourist activities for the holiday to attract domestic travelers.

Besides traditional tourist attractions like the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, the local government has also introduced special tours to Zhongguancun - the country's top-notch high-tech center, a temple fair in the Mentougou District, and a flower fair in Huairou County.

The local tourism bureau has established a 12358 telephone number, through which tourists are encouraged to tell the administration about any dissatisfaction they encountered with the city's tourism services.

In Hangzhou, a group of more than 800 volunteers will guide visitors' tours through the city during the holiday. The local tourism bureau has also increased the accommodation capacity during the peak travel period, and has extended the opening times of parks and museums into the late evening.

Shaanxi's Xi'an, Yunnan's Kunming and Hainan's Haikou all upgraded their tourist facilities before May 1, in the hope that the holiday economy will bring them another profitable harvest.

The Beijing Railway Bureau has added an extra nine special tourist trains to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Dalian and Mount Huangshan, starting yesterday. More trains will be added if passenger numbers along certain lines surge.

Sources with the Ministry of Railways said most berth tickets for tourist-site-bound trains are sold out, but passengers can still get ordinary tickets at local ticket booths.

Most airlines have added flights during the holiday. Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, China's three leading airlines, have all added dozens of flights covering tourism hot spots.

To reduce operational costs, most airlines have added flights in the evening, and even at night, and many travel agencies have begun to charter flights for big tourist groups.

Air China operated an increased number of international flights to Southeast Asian countries and Japan this year.

Air China now links five cities in Japan with Beijing, and sources with the airline say that profits along such routes are quite attractive.

(China Daily 04/27/2001)