The prolonged cold weather in south China dampened travel during the Spring Festival.

The number of tourists traveling within and to the country fell to more than 87.4 million, down 5.2 percent on the same period last year, official figures have showed.

The figure does not include the millions of Chinese traveling home for the Chinese New Year.

China's tourism industry reaped 39.3 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) during the week, 6.2 percent less than last year, according to the National Tourism Administration.

(China Daily February 15, 2008)