Higher entrance fees for over 20 tourist attractions

Tourists visit the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province, Sept 10, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

As the number of tourists climbs during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the entrance fees for tourist attractions have become an issue of public concern once again.

An incomplete statistics shows that more than 20 tourist attractions in seven provinces have shown their intention to raise the ticket prices since the beginning of this year, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

According to an ordinance introduced by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in 2007, the ticket prices for scenic spots cannot be raised by more than 35% each time.

However, a recent official approval from Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission showed that the ticket price of Majishan Scenic Site in Tianshui city will rise from 70 yuan to 110 yuan in high season since Oct 10, increasing by 57%, which violates the regulation.

Meanwhile, the scenic spot of Mogao Grottoes in Gansu has raised its entrance fee drastically through packaging the ticket price of the "Digital Display Center", originally an optional item, at 60 yuan per person. This would bring the total cost to 260 yuan from July 21.