BEIJING: Some ethnic groups’ folk festivals have boosted tourism in China’s border cities with their hospitality and cultural riches.
People in Southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have just finished their four-day Sanyuesan Festival. Held from the third day of the third month in the Chinese lunar calendar, it is a traditional festival for the region’s Zhuang ethnic group.
The regional government gave people working and living in Guangxi a four-day break — one day more than last year — starting from April 11.
In December 2013, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, revised the nation’s holiday management rules to allow provinces and regions with clusters of ethnic groups to decide the dates and durations of their folk festival holidays.
Guangxi took steps to boost tourism and promote the Sanyuesan Festival before the holiday. It started to hand out tourism coupons from April 1, with the region’s 138 scenic spots allowing free admission and 45 attractions halving ticket prices until April 30. Eighty-eight starred hotels in the region offered half-price accommodations to travelers during the Sanyuesan holiday.
The holiday attracted more visitors, with China Railway Nanning Group Co, headquartered in the regional capital, Nanning, tallying a record high 811,000 passenger trips on Thursday, the first day of the holiday.
Guangxi also witnessed marked growth in international travelers during the holiday, such as those from Vietnam. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
