Shanghai hosted an estimated 660,000 tourists on the first day of the weeklong National Day holiday on Monday, the city's holiday office said on Tuesday.

About 30,000 tourists visited the city's landmark Oriental Pearl TV Tower yesterday, up 20 percent from a year earlier and brought 2.4 million yuan (US$319,766) to its ticket earnings, the office said.

The Shanghai Wildlife Park received 24,000 people yesterday, an increase of 21 percent from a year ago.

Century Park hosted 16,000 tourists yesterday and Fengjing Town, a local water town with a history of more than 1,500 years, also received 16,000 people, the office said.

A total of 9,375 people made trips via the city's tourism bus hub on Monday.

Shanghai Railway Bureau on Monday put 71 extra trains into use to handle the peak period, when 230,000 people departed the city by rail.

Vehicles and ships shuttling between Shanghai and Chongming, Hengsha and Changxing islands more than doubled on Monday compared with ordinary days, bringing more than 50,000 visitors, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Bureau said.

Local shipping companies have arranged 60 vessels and opened more routes to send tourists to the islands during the holiday period.

More than 6,800 people from Taiwan took 32 chartered flights between Shanghai and Taiwan from September 21 to 30 via Pudong International Airport.

About 4.2 million visitors are due in Shanghai during the holidays, a rise of five percent compared with the last Golden Week holiday in October, according to the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission.

(Shanghai Daily October 4, 2007)