Visitors observe giraffes in a scenic spot in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province during the five-day May Day holiday that ended on May 5. [Photo/WeChat account:huzhoufabu]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province welcomed more than 4.18 million tourists during the five-day May Day holiday that ended on May 5, local authorities said.

The figure marks a 6.62 percent surge over the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Huzhou Culture and Tourism Big Data Center.

The city's tourism sector generated about 5 billion yuan ($769.23 million) during the holiday, an increase of 12.12 percent over the 2019 total, the center said.

Rural tours were among the most popular types of tours during the holiday. More than 2.16 million visitors traveled to the city's countryside during the five-day holiday.

The city's most popular tourist attractions during the holiday were Taihu Lake Longemont Paradise, Nanxun Ancient Town, Zhongnan Baicaoyuan, and Mount Mogan, which received about 400,000, 378,000, 116,000, and 78,000 visitors respectively.

High-end hotels and homestays were almost fully booked in Huzhou. Zoo Hotel and Diamond Hotel in Huzhou had also been listed in this year's list of top 10 popular hotels in China during the May Day holiday by domestic online travel agent Ctrip.

In addition, the holiday also saw a robust growth in consumption. Official statistics show that the retail sales volume of 20 monitored shopping malls and supermarkets in the city amounted to 114 million yuan over the five-day period, up 20 percent year-on-year.