This year's vacation for a young woman office worker from southern Guangdong Province is all about sleeping and sipping coffee beside Lake Xihu, rather than rushing around the scenic city of Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province.

More Chinese share Huang's idea of relaxing travel. A survey by the Hangzhou tourism committee shows a rise in such tourists in the first half of this year.

The city endowed with a big lake has long been a popular resort. Tourists heading for Hangzhou mainly go for the scenery. Historical sites and folk culture are listed as the second main reason for visiting.

However, fewer people report being interested in busily taking souvenir photos this year. Instead, they chose to relax and unwind in this tranquil city.

This new group of holidaymakers has brought the city more income. The Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Bureau said it played host to a total of 40.5 million domestic visitors in the first half of this year and its returns amounted to 29 billion yuan (3.5 billion US dollars), up 20.8 percent on a yearly basis.

( China Daily July 25, 2002 )