Tourists to Wudang surge for Dragon Boat Festival

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2013-06-19

The tourism bureau of the Wudang Mountains in Hubei province came up with new ways to cope with the surge in tourists during the Dragon Boat Festival from June 10 to June 12.

  Buses in the Wudang Mountain’s parking area during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

The tourist sites received 13,062 tourists as of June 12, a year-on-year rise of 16.4 percent. Ticket sales year-on-year increased by 10.9 percent to around 7.56 million yuan ($1.23 million).

The three-day Dragon Boat Festival attracted 38,901 visitors with tourism revenue reaching 21.24 million yuan ($3.46 million), a year-on-year increase of 8.36 percent and 7.43 percent, respectively.

  Tourists queue to get aboard during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

Tourists were mostly from the neighboring provinces of Henan and Shaanxi, and cities like Wuhan, Jingmen and Suizhou. The second day of the holiday witnessed a peak of 18,219 tourists.

Middle school students contributed a lot to the growth of tourism, since this Dragon Boat Festival came on the heels of the national college entrance exam on June 7 and June 8.

The Wudang Mountains have developed and launched a group of special tourism products, including a martial arts performance in Xiao Yao Gu (Carefree Valley), intangible cultural exhibitions and tea-making performances, helping visitors better understand Wudang’s culture.

Edited by Michael Thai and Le Qin