Beijing earnt 3.44 billion yuan (US$414.5 million) during the May Day holiday, 94.1 percent of which came from tourists.

Cars, electric appliances and food sales were also the three highlights.

The Quanjude restaurant in Qianmen - famous for its roast Peking duck - received 5,620 guests on May 4 and earned a total of 720,000 yuan (US$86,700), setting a new record in its history for the highest amount of sales in one day.

The week-long holiday has created good opportunities for shops and department stores to make a fortune.

People also lined up in front of Guomei electric appliance chain stores to buy promoted products.

Most department stores in Beijing have also seen a prominent increase in sales, according to statistics provided by the Beijing Municipal Business Committee.

Landao department store achieved a sales revenue of 4 million yuan (US$481,000) in a single day, 700,000 yuan (US$84,300) higher than last year.

Whilst transport is back to normal following the week-long May Day holiday, hospitals and banks are preparing themselves for what is for them a busier time than usual.

Hospitals in Beijing received a great number of patients on Wednesday.

At the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, lines of people waited in front of windows to pay their fees.

"I should have come here later or maybe tomorrow. There are so many people," said a women surnamed Chen who waited in the queue.

Banks in Beijing have also been more crowded than usual due to their closure over the holiday period.

People were only able to get access to cash with debit cards and credit cards that the ATM machines would accept.

( China Daily May 9, 2002)