Increasing numbers of people are travelling in China as the summer vacation period gets into full swing. Some ticket prices are going up but some bargains are available for tourist areas in the country.
Beijing West Railway Station has recently experienced a surge in passenger flow. The station received and saw off some 260-thousand passengers last weekend. That's up about twenty percent compared to figure before the summer vacation period.
Jin Long, Head of Beijing West Station said "There are 136 round trip trains running from our station. That is a record high during the summer vacation since the establishment of the Beijing West Station."
Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing are also witnessing surges in passenger flow, with most people heading to tourism cities. China's railways send off nearly 5 million passengers each day.
In the airline sector, some ticket prices to popular tourism destinations have doubled over a week ago. In the past few days, ticket prices from Beijing and Shanghai to Sanya have significantly gone up.
However, domestic tourism prices have not been affected. Amid the global financial crisis and concerns over the A/H1N1 flu, many Chinese tourists have chosen to travel within China, rather than overseas.
Tian Ling, GM of Domestic Department of CYTS
(CCTV July 14, 2009)
