China's box office during the National Day holiday surged to 2.1 billion yuan (about $300 million), with domestic patriotic films and thrillers topping the charts, according to statistics from Dengta Data. 

On the first day of the holiday, the box office exceeded 494 million yuan, up 15 percent year on year, according to movie data platform Maoyan. That day also set a record for the number of screenings on the National Day. This was also the first time in five months that the daily box office on the Chinese mainland surpassed 400 million yuan. Experts say that a rich variety of themes in this year's newly released films are catering to a wide range of viewers.