Tourism authorities at the the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone, Fujian province report a total of 26,250 tourists during the 7-day Spring Festival holiday, or 32.3 percent more than for the same last year period, with at least 10,760 staying overnight, up 32 percent, and the remainder spending at least one whole day.

Tourists having a good time at Immortal Well, a natural formation, in Pingtan, Fujian province. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

Tourism revenues, Feb 18 - 24, amounted to 6.4 million yuan ($1 million), or more than quadruple, last year’s figure, with tourists from Fujian and neighboring provinces flocking to some famous scenic spots, such as Immortal Well, General Mountain, Haiyu Square and Wanbao Park, attracted by the free admission as well as the scenery.

An Immortal Well staff member, Lu Zhangxing, explained, “We’ve been taking in more than 2,000 every day, which is a lot in winter, and significantly larger than for previous years.”

One person who was visiting Pingtan for the fourth time, Gu Teli, commented that Pingtan has always been appealing for him, especially the soft, fine sand on the beach and the sunrise, and that this year he plans to cycle around a bit, buy some things at the duty-free Taiwan Commodity Market, and get the Haixia, a high-speed roll-on/roll-off passenger ship, to Taiwan.

These new tourists also gave a boost to the hotel business, with most rooms having been already booked about a month ahead of time.