A report from the Shanxi Bureau of Tourism on Feb 25 showed that a total of 5.99 million tourists spent the holiday in Shanxi province during Spring Festival. The amount grew 14.25 percent compared with last year and achieved tourism income of 2.82 billion yuan ($451.4 million).

Among all the tourists this lunar New Year, the amount of tourists that stayed overnight reached 1.81 million, growing 13.45 percent year-on-year. Most of the guests, roughly 4.18 million, took one-day trips in the province.

The Emperor Guan Temple in Haizhou, Shanxi's Yuncheng. [Photo/Xinhua]

The supervision results from the provincial tourism statistics and forecasting authority showed that 26 key scenic spots in Shanxi welcomed 1.52 million tourists from home and abroad and achieved ticket revenues of 28.34 million yuan. The 26 key scenic spots included most of the well-known attractions, like the Qiao Family Compound, Ancient City of Pingyao and Mount Wutai.

Mount Wutai in the city of Xinzhou, Shanxi province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A list made by one of China's top online travel agencies, Ctrip.com, and the China Tourism Academy has included the Ancient City of Pingyao as one of the 10 most popular ancient cities in China. This ancient city also pulled ahead of other scenic spots in terms of tourist volume during the festival. Other tourist attractions like the Wang Family Compound and Emperor Guan Temple in Haizhou came in second and third place, respectively, for tourist volume.

The Ancient City of Pingyao in Jinzhong, Shanxi province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Most of the tourists from other provinces chose routes including Mount Wutai, Pingyao and the Qiao Family Compound. The provinces and cities around Shanxi, Northeast China and the Yangtze River Delta were the main resources for Shanxi's tourists.

Activities featuring traditional folk customs like temple fairs and winter tourism products such as skiing added flavor to the local tourism markets.

Edited by Michael Thai