Visitors in the Humble Administrator's Garden on Feb 24, the largest garden in Suzhou and is considered by some to be the finest garden in all of southern China. [Photo/Suzhou Daily]

The city of Suzhou in Jiangsu province continued to be a hot spot for tourists during this week-long Spring Festival holiday.

Over 2.38 million tourists swarmed into Suzhou's many tourist attractions, helping to amass total tourism revenues of 2.7 billion yuan ($432.5 million) during the holiday. The number of tourists was down 0.85 percent compared to last year and up the total revenue generated was down 5.21 percent.

Officials from the Suzhou Tourism Bureau said that the number of tourists dropped slightly due to this year's holiday starting from the eve of the lunar New Year, which most people chose to spend at home. The drop in tourist numbers corresponded directly with ticket sales at local tourist attractions. However, visitors spent more money on dining and accommodation, which helped to lift total tourism revenue.

Suzhou's classic scenic gardens received more than 100,000 visitors, 90 percent of whom came from outside of city during the first four days of the week-long holiday from Feb 18 to 24. And its three scenic water towns, including Tongli, Mudu and Luzhi received more than 200,000 visitors, 70 percent of which were outside visitors. Two ancient streets, namely Shantang Street and Pingjiang Road, received more than 70,000 visitors and over 50,000 visitors respectively.

During the Spring Holiday, more than 40 celebration events were held in the city such as the folk custom show in the Shantang Ancient Street, the ice lantern festival in the Suzhou Amusement Park, and the lantern show in Zhangjiagang. A poll showed that over 95 percent of visitors were satisfied with their tours in Suzhou, and a portion of those surveyed believed that Suzhou is a best choice to enjoy the traditional Chinese customs and enjoy the slow pace of life.