5m tourists visit Ningbo during Spring Festival holiday

An actor dressed like "God of Wealth" distributes hongbao, or red envelopes containing cash, to visitors at the temple fair in Xiangshan county of Ningbo. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province received 5.03 million tourists over the recent seven-day Spring Festival holiday, up 13.62 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Ningbo municipal tourism administration.

Most of the tourists came from neighboring cities including Taizhou, Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Shanghai.

The city's tourism industry generated total revenues of 4.03 billion yuan ($634.3 million) during the holiday, which ran from Feb 15-21 this year, the data also revealed.

A variety of cultural activities such as folk art performances were organized at scenic areas throughout Ningbo to help boost visitor numbers. For instance, the temple fair at Xiangshan Movie & TV Town presented the intangible cultural heritages to tourists and the gourmet festival at the Old Bund attracted people from home and abroad to savor the charm of Chinese food.

In addition, assorted exhibitions at museums and colorful folk activities in the rural areas of Ningbo were well received among tourists.

Meanwhile, approximately 20,000 Ningbo citizens went abroad during the Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year growth of 15 percent. Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Japan were the most popular destinations.