The eight-day "golden week" holiday ended on Thursday, with Beijing being the most popular tourism destination thanks to the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

A passenger carrying a suitcase on his shoulder struggles through Hefei Railway Station in the capital of Anhui province yesterday. China witnessed a traffic peak as people went back home or returned to work after the "golden week" holiday. (Li Bo/China Daily)

The holiday, from Oct 1-8, was extended by one day this year because the Mid-Autumn festival fell during the period.

According to online travel service ctrip.com, Beijing topped the popular destination list, followed by Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu.

"Factors such as National Day, the parade and the Olympic Games together made Beijing the most popular," said Tang Yibo, supervisor of the holiday department of ctrip.com.

The Chinese capital received nearly 15 million tourists during the eight days, up almost 59 percent year on year, the Beijing Tourism Administration said yesterday.

Total tourism revenue reached almost 5.4 billion yuan ($790 million), up 3.1 percent from last year, which was the best year in history, it said.

Tian'anmen rostrum especially benefited from the patriotism aroused by the celebrations on National Day.

Official statistics showed that the Tian'anmen rostrum received at least 20,000 visitors on Oct 4 and 6 each, three times than the same day last year.

Other major scenic spots, such as the Palace Museum and Badaling section of the Great Wall, also saw significant growth in tourists.

Shanghai was the second most popular destination this year, according to ctrip.com.

"A destination like Shanghai, a metropolis, has longstanding appeal to domestic tourists," Tang said.

Though the number of tourist began to decline the past two days, major scenic spots in Shanghai still received a large number of visitors. On Wednesday, 15,000 tourists visited Shanghai's iconic Oriental Pearl Tower, an increase of 42 percent year on year, according to the Shanghai tourism department.

The China Tourism Academy forecast that domestic scenic spots would receive 200 million tourists, while tourist income was expected to be more than 100 billion yuan, an increase of 25 percent over the same period last year.

More people visited overseas, too, the China National Tourism Administration said yesterday in a news release.

The number of mainlanders visiting Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan grew by more than 50 percent year on year, it said.

Ctrip.com said the most popular overseas destinations included Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Maldives, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States.

Starting from Wednesday, the country's railway, roads and air transport experienced a new peak of travel, as millions of travelers started returning home.

Ministry of Transport spokesman He Jianzhong said yesterday that some 62 million people were expected to travel by road yesterday, up 9 percent year on year.

The Ministry of Railways said 5.6 million passengers traveled by train on Tuesday, and 48.5 million did so between Oct 1-6, up 2.4 percent year on year.

Short-distance trips became popular, packing the high-speed bullet trains with travelers.