40,000 tourists travel by bus during festival

By Steffie Lu and Zhang Jun  |   2008-6-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

MORE than 90 percent of short-term travel packages were booked out for the first Dragon Boat Festival holiday at the weekend, agencies said.

Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center said two-day travel packages were almost solidly booked, with only trips to Moganshan Mountain and Qiandao Lake still available.

The Shanghai Long Distance Bus Center said on Saturday that it handled more than 40,000 tourists, almost twice the usual number.

Shanghai Travel Service Company said bookings had almost reached the May Day holiday level. "On Saturday the booking volume was almost 10 times that in previous days," said Zhang Jianquan, deputy manager of the company.

About 60 percent of the packages were bound for Ningbo in Zhejiang Province. Agencies said many people wanted to look at the Hangzhou Bay Bridge which was opened on May 1. "Before, Ningbo took about 10 percent of the total booking volume," said Zhang.

Other popular packages including viewing the making of zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings), a traditional Dragon Boat Festival snack.

Agencies said hotel rooms in Ningbo had raised their prices by 20 percent during the holiday, but rooms were solidly booked.

Travel agencies had estimated a slack demand during the festival, as it coincides with college entrance examinations.

In the picturesque water town of Zhujiajiao in Qingpu District, residents competed to wrap zongzi and watched performances of traditional Chinese culture.

In Oriental Land park, a batch of students dressed in ancient Chinese style offered ritual sacrifices for Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet and government minister during the Warring States Period (476-221BC).

Many people attended a dragon boat competition in the park.

At Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, children were taught how to make zongzi. There was an exhibition explaining the origin and history of the festival.

Many locals bought or made special sachets of herbs for children - another tradition for the Dragon Boat Festival.