Numerous festivals and activities along the Three Gorges, Wutai Mountain, Lushan Mountain and many other renowned scenic spots have attracted large numbers of tourists for the first day of celebrations. People visiting Guangzhou, Tianjin and other key cities have the chance to enjoy both the traditional culture and the remarkable progress of the modernization drive.

More Chinese are choosing to spend their holiday abroad. Southeast Asian regions, Egypt and Turkey, Japan, Australia are among the most popular tourist destinations this year. Domestic tourist agencies have been spurred by this trend to look for ways to attract these people to stay in China.

Making tourism in China more convenient has become a priority. Visitors to Shanghai may find it easier to find the right route with the assistance of many multi-media computers recently installed on some key streets. People can also send e-mails and surf the Internet on the computers.

The city of Xiamen in east China opened a service pavilion to provide comprehensive tourist services, including free consultation and materials, ticket sales, hotel booking and postal services, to tourists. People may also get help through their phone by dialing "185."

Environmental protection has become the theme of some tourist activities this year. On the southernmost island province of Hainan, people can participate some activities highlighting ecology and environmental protection of the tropical landscapes.

Lushan Mountain, a famous tourist resort in Jiangxi Province, east China, is hoping to increase tourism by working to stop its chronic smoke pollution caused by coal and diesel oil burning. By updating the local power supply system, residents in the area are expected to use electricity as the major energy.

The week-long holiday will continue to give China's tourism industry a big boost and tourists a chance to see the new and the old in this vast country.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2002)