More than 7 million tourists are expected to visit Beijing in the upcoming National Day holiday, the first "golden week" holiday after the Olympics and Paralympics.

Ding Xiangyang, deputy mayor of Beijing, told a working conference of the municipal bureau of tourism on Monday that it would be a nearly 18 percent increase from the same period last year, when 5.94 million people, including residents and tourists from other parts of China, visited the national capital during the holiday.

The Olympic Games and the following Paralympics have fully demonstrated a venerable and yet modern China to the world and greatly improved the sector's service level, Shao Qiwei, head of the National Tourism Administration, has said.

Many people were keen to come to Beijing as their travel plans had been delayed during August, the usually busy travel season, said Zhang Lingjun, deputy head of domestic trip department of China International Travel Service.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2008)