Domestic trips surge during first half of national holiday

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Chinese tourists took 461 million trips within the nation during the first half of the National Day holiday, an 11.4－percent upswing compared to last year.

The figures were released by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) on Wednesday, the fourth day of the "golden week," or the eight-day holiday when many domestic attractions see the greatest number of visitors each year.

Holidaymakers as of Wednesday have been spending in proportion with their growth in numbers, their travel expenditures so far ringing in at 385.6 billion yuan (57.55 billion US dollars), up 13.6 percent year-on-year.

The northeastern Liaoning Province and the picturesque Guizhou Province in the southwest are among the favorite destinations, seeing over 25 million vacationers in the first four days.

Fujian Province on China's southeastern coast, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are two places rapidly gaining attraction, the number of visitors increasing by over 20 percent compared to CNTA's 2016 figures for the first four days of the golden week.

The government administration previously estimated that half the population, or nearly 700 million people in total, would be on the move during the holiday, which this year has been extended by one day to accommodate the Mid-Autumn Festival falling on October 4.

Road trips, as opposed to group tours, are increasingly becoming the holiday activity of choice among China's burgeoning middle class. A rising number of people are also opting for what the CNTA is calling "neighborhood tourism," or short trips to nearby provinces.

The growing number of domestic travelers has not come at the cost of outbound journeys however, and the number of trips abroad is also on the upswing. The number is expected to reach a historical high, exceeding 6 million trips during the eight-day period, estimates travel service provider Ctrip.com.