China's gross consumer goods retail sales hit 300 billion yuan (US$37.5 billion) during the "Golden Week" holiday (Oct.1-7), up 14.5 percent on the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

A survey released Saturday by the MOC showed that consumers had plenty of choice. Products such as mobile phones, liquid crystal TV sets, digital devices, jewelry and seasonal fashions were among the bestsellers.

China has three week-long breaks each year, called "golden weeks", which take place at Spring Festival, the May 1 International Labor Day and the October 1 National Day. The Chinese government launched "golden weeks" in 1999, hoping that the long holidays would encourage people to spend more money and help push economic growth.

What is special about this year's National Day holiday is that the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of China's most important festivals, fell on October 6, coinciding with Golden Week. As a result, more people traveled to family reunions to celebrate the festival and many new couples chose to hold their weddings during the holiday.

In Beijing alone some 20,000 weddings were held around the holiday period, according to the China Committee of Wedding Service Industries.

There was intense travel and transport activity during the holiday. The railways carried a record 5.18 million passengers on Oct. 1, the first day of the country's week-long National Day holiday, said an official with the Ministry of Railways.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2006)