Beijing's May Day holiday trips rebound above pre-COVID level

BEIJING -- The Chinese capital of Beijing received 9.1 million visitor arrivals during the May Day holiday, which ended Wednesday, marking a year-on-year increase of 198.2 percent, and 6.6 percent higher than the pre-COVID level recorded in 2019, according to the municipal bureau of culture and tourism Thursday.

Total tourism revenue in the city amounted to 13.5 billion yuan ($1.96 billion) in the five-day holiday, a leap of 752.3 percent year on year, and 13.9 percent higher than the 2019 figure.

Per-capita tourist spending in the city reached 1,474.4 yuan in the holiday, 6.8 percent higher than that of 2019.

Beijing launched a variety of cultural tourism activities during the holiday with 166 theaters in the city staging 1,473 performances, ranging from dramas, operas, and musicals to children's plays, attracting about 450,000 visitors and earning 87.38 million yuan at the box office.