As Chinese holiday-makers welcome the first long holiday after the seven-day-long Spring Festival holiday since January, the country has seen a travel rush and a boom in tourism.

The number of passenger trips handled by the country"s railways reached 19.66 million on Saturday, the first day of the five-day-long May Day holiday,said the China State Railway Group on Sunday.

It was a record high in terms of single-day passenger traffic, said the group, adding that 18 million passenger trips are expected on Sunday.

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Passengers wait to board trains at Nanning East Railway Station in Nanning, south China"s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 29, 2023. /Xinhua

Passengers get their tickets checked before boarding a train at Fuyang West Railway Station in Fuyang City, east China"s Anhui Province, April 29, 2023. /Xinhua

Heavy traffic is pictured on the expressway surrounding the city of Guangzhou, south China"s Guangdong Province, April 29, 2023. /Xinhua

According to earlier data, about 120 million domestic trips were expected to be made by Chinese railway passengers from April 27 to May 4 around the May Day holiday.

To meet people"s travel needs, China"s railways are maximizing their transportation potential and increasing their capacity while improving their service quality to ensure that passengers have better experiences.

The Ministry of Transport forecast that the total number of passenger trips on the first day of the holiday would be 56.99 million, a 151.8 percent increase from the same day of last year.

Road trips were expected to surge by 98.8 percent to 34.5 million, while air trips would rocket by 441.8 percent to 2.04 million, with passenger volume by ship rising by 86.2 percent to 950,000.

Highway passenger car flow is expected to grow by 120.03 percent to 56.35 million units.

Tourists visit the Senado Square in Macao, south China, April 29, 2023. /Xinhua

People take selfies at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, capital of China, April 29, 2023. /Xinhua

People visit the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang, northwest China"s Gansu Province, April 29, 2023. /Xinhua

With surging travel demand comes a booming tourism sector. The China Tourism Academy stated that approximately 240 million tourism trips are expected during the holiday season, likely to reach the same level as 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, more than 120 billion yuan ($17.4 billion) of revenue is anticipated to be created in tourism.

Tickets to some popular tourist sites across the country have almost sold out during the holiday. The Summer Palace has said its tickets are sold out through Tuesday, or May 2, and the online booking service of the Palace Museum shows no tickets are available until Thursday.

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