Beating the heat for Dragon Boat Festival

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Family trips and destinations with cooler weather have become the most popular choices for people making travel plans during the forthcoming Dragon Boat Festival, travel agencies said.

According to a report by Tuniu, an online travel agency in Nanjing, attractions in northwestern provinces, including Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, Xining in Qinghai Province and Lanzhou in Gansu Province, are receiving more reservations because of their cooler weather and beautiful scenery as people want to get away from the heat.

Tang Paradise in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. /VCG Photo

Prayer wheels in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province. /VCG Photo

The city view of Lanzhou in northwest China's Gansu Province. /VCG Photo

The festival falls on June 7 this year, between International Children's Day on June 1 and Father's Day on June 16, making the holiday a good time for family trips.

Tuniu found that theme parks – for example, Shanghai Disney Resort – attract a great number of travelers. Also, Ctrip, another online travel service provider in Shanghai, said attractions for family trips registered a 200 percent increase over the same period last year.

Folk activities, including dragon boat races and eating zongzi, a sticky rice dumpling, are also popular with travelers.

People usually eat zongzi, a type of Chinese sticky rice dumpling, to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival. /VCG Photo

The three-day holiday, from July 7 to 9, makes neighboring countries and regions popular choices for people who like to travel overseas. The top three outbound destinations are Japan, Thailand and Russia, according to Ctrip.

About 100 million visits are expected to be made by Chinese travelers in the coming Dragon Boat Festival, according to travel agencies.

(Cover image via VCG)

Source(s): China Daily