Travel agencies in Shanghai are offering short trips this month to cater to the growing number of local employers that provide free trips to their female employees to celebrate International Women's Day, which falls on March 8, today's Shanghai Evening News reported.

Nearly 70 percent of the employers are local public institutions and state enterprises, which have a tradition of allowing a half-day leave for their female employees on that day and organizing celebrations.

This year, the Shanghai Women's Federation has organized discounted trips from March 1 to 13 and as of yesterday dozens of companies have booked these trips for nearly 2,000 female workers.

(Shanghai Daily March 10, 2005)