China's fourth largest desert – Tengger – offers a rich variety of sporting activities to travelers trying to make the most of the eight-day vacation spanning the country's Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day holidays. One of the most popular options is a helicopter ride over the desert, which stretches about 43,000 square kilometers across north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The diverse and colorful activities also include professional race car performances, kart racing, beach volleyball and molten iron splashing performances. On September 29, the first day of the holiday period running until October 6, China's railways handled some 20.1 million passenger trips, setting a new record for daily trip numbers and surpassing 20 million for the first time in history.