BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of park visitors soared in Beijing during the three-day tomb-sweeping holiday that ended Sunday, thanks to many memorial activities and blooming flowers.
Beijing's 11 municipal parks and the Museum of Chinese Gardens and Landscape Architecture received around 1.9 million visitors during the holiday, up from 1.2 million at the same period of previous year, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration Center of Parks.
Yuyuantan Park, the Summer Palace and Beijing Zoo were reported as the most popular destinations in terms of visitor numbers, according to the center.
On Saturday afternoon, the Summer Palace had to stop selling tickets as the number of visitors was beyond its capacity of 120,000.
Parks held more than 40 events to attract visitors, such as exhibitions to commemorate martyrs and folk custom activities in which visitors could learn making kites or Qingtuan, a sweet green rice ball.
The center said the ongoing flowering period also sparked enthusiasm among residents and tourists, contributing to the tourism boom. A number of parks are holding flower-themed festivals, including cherry blossom in Yuyuantan and peach blossom in Beijing Botanical Garden.
Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as the Qingming Festival, is an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors. It fell on April 5 this year. Many also spent the three-day holiday on leisure travel.
