China's daily box office exceeded 500 million yuan (73 million U.S. dollars) on the Qixi Festival, known as the Chinese Valentine's Day, the highest among that of any single market across the world in the era of COVID-19 pandemic, showing the strong reviving momentum of the domestic film market. 

Thirty-seven days after cinemas reopened in the country, this box office totaling 522 million yuan, only second to the last year's record holder at 560 million yuan in the history of the Qixi Festival box office. Previously, the 500 million yuan box office mark was recorded during last year's National Day holiday.

There were 296,500 screenings displayed on Tuesday, attracting 14 million moviegoers, according to data from the National Film Industry Development Special Fund Management Commission.

Three new releases "Love You Forever," "Wild Grass," and "Little Women" grossed 275 million yuan, 37 million yuan, and 11 million yuan, respectively. "Love You Forever" even beat last year's animation blockbuster "Ne Zha" to become the new Qixi Festival winner.

Domestic war epic "The Eight Hundred" earned 189 million yuan, ranking second, which helped the big-budget production surpassing the 1.1 billion yuan mark five days after its official release and a week of preview screenings.

A total of 9,487 cinemas, 87 percent across the country, have reopened their doors as of Tuesday, raising people's confidence in the market performance for the upcoming National Day holiday.

Read more: Box office tops a billion yuan a month after reopening of cinemas

(Cover image: A moviegoer passes by a poster of film "Love You Forever" at a cinema in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province, August 25, 2020. /CFP   )