Tourism in North China growing in popularity

Shanxi province, known for its historical sites and scenic spots, saw a major increase in tourism during this Spring Festival, according to the Xinhua News Agency, noting that the province had a total of 7.94 million tourists, for a 25-percent rise year-on-year.

Chinese visitors looking at folk arts, in Pingyao, a traditional old-style city, on Feb 23. [Photo by Tang Weiqing/Xinhua]

Its three major tourist sources are the province itself and nearby Heibei province and the city of Beijing, with a steady increase in the number of tourists from the city of Tianjin and Liaoning province, largely thanks to new bullet train routes.

The visitors also accounted for 3.7 billion yuan ($567 million) in tourist income, up 31-percent year-on-year, with a deputy head of China's National Tourism Administration, Li Shihong, commenting that tourism is becoming a competitive industry for the province.