During the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, more than 2.2 million "tourists" viewed Shanghai's sights, an increase of 10.5 percent over the previous Spring Festival, officials with the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission said yesterday.

The commission's definition of tourist included 1 million local residents who visited the city's scenic attractions, as well as 23,000 visitors from overseas.

Tourists spent more than 1.2 billion yuan (US$144.6 million), 22.2 percent more than the same period last year, said the commission.

"Both the number of tourists and the tourism revenue are the highest since Spring Festival became a seven-day holiday three years ago," said commission statistician Wang Zuguang. In addition to landmarks like the Oriental Pearl Broadcasting and TV Tower, newer attractions, such as the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, were also a lure for visitors.

"A friend and I visited the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium because we prefer visiting something fresh, rather than staying home or strolling along the streets," said Fanni Fang, a reporter for Shanghai Television Station.

Fang and her friends also toured rural Jiading District.

Jennifer Wang of the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, which opened on February 7, said about 60,000 people visited the aquarium during the holiday.

According to local travel agencies, more than 250,000 city residents traveled outside of Shanghai, up 7 percent from the previous year.

"The most popular destination was the island of Hainan because of its warm weather," said Chen Jisheng of Spring International Travel Service.

More than 94,000 people used the Shanghai Bus Tour Center to visit sights within the municipality or in nearby provinces, approximately 21 percent more than last year, reported the center's Yao Weirong.

( eastday.com February 20, 2002)