​Jinan receives 731,000 tourists during Dragon Boat Festival holiday

Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, saw a tourism boom during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday from June 7 to 9.

According to the city's culture and tourism bureau, 18 scenic spots in Jinan welcomed a total of 731,000 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent.

Tourists brought nearly 22.47 million yuan ($3.34 million) in tourism revenue to the city, a yearly increase of 17.8 percent.

A wide range of festive activities, including experiencing traditional customs, fruit-picking in countryside, child-parent campaigns and climbing were launched among Jinan's scenic spots, attracting many visitors.

The annual Dragon Boat Culture Festival was unveiled at Daming Lake Scenic Spot on June 7. Baotu Spring Park offered tourists a chance to wrap up their own zongzi, pyramidal-shaped glutinous rice dumplings in reed leaves. Baimai Spring Scenic Spot staged folk performances such as paper-cutting and dough modeling.

China's Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu, which fell on June 7 this year, is one of the oldest festivals in China, with a history of more than 2,000 years. It has many traditional customs such as dragon boat racing, eating zongzi, balancing eggs and hanging auspicious leaves.