Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and known as "city of ice", hosted 1.067 million tourists from home and abroad during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, which concluded on Wednesday.

The figure is 18.25 percent higher that the same period last year, according to the city tourism bureau.

The city earned 839 million yuan (US$101.45 million) in tourism income during the weeklong holiday from Jan. 22 to 28, up 21.06 percent over the corresponding period of last year.

In recent years, as incomes increase, some Chinese have chosen to travel around China and even overseas to celebrate the Spring Festival, a traditional festival of family gatherings.

Many holidaymakers to Harbin were from warmer southern and eastern China regions, as well as southeastern Asian countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

Skiing has become the most popular sport as temperatures in northeast China drop to 20 degrees below zero Celsius. Snow and ice sculptures also pull in the crowds.

Most four-star and three-star hotels in the city had been fully occupied over the past week.

However, the swarms of tourists burdened local road, rail and air transport.

The Harbin-based Taiping International Airport handled 783 passenger flights from Jan. 22 to 28, a year-on-year increase of 20.83 percent. The airport handled 128 passenger flights on Wednesday alone.

Sources with the Harbin Railway Station said the daily number of passengers leaving Harbin had topped 100,000 since Tuesday.

Tourists in Harbin have been warned to book tickets early to avoid delays.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2004)