Beijing receives 7.7 mln tourists during Spring Festival holiday

BEIJING - Beijing received over 7.7 million tourists during the week-long Spring Festival holiday that began Thursday, the municipal tourism authority said.

A total of 7,707,000 tourists visited Beijing over the past week, up 4.9 percent over last year's holiday, bringing a revenue of 7.3 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), an increase of 8.4 percent, said Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development.

The much-loved temple fairs in the Temple of Earth and Dragon Pool Park attracted 1.7 million tourists from China and abroad.

The past seven days witnessed 914,000 people entering the city by air, and 2 million arriving at Beijing by train, official data showed.

Law enforcement officials have been dispatched in nearly 70,000 shifts to regulate tourists, the commission said.