Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Zhuhai was a popular destination over the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, attracting 1.62 million tourists including 405,700 overnight visitors. The influx generated 940 million yuan ($137 million) in revenue, a 23 percent increase year-on-year.

The South China city's warm weather drew 17.7 percent more visitors than that during the same period last year, with the addition of folk culture and flower events helping to boost the numbers.

Gongbei Port bustles during Chinese New Year

Popular attractions included coastal Lovers Avenue, Wanshan Archipelago, and Ocean Spring Resort. The most visited places were Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort and New Yuanming Palace.

According to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, six main tourist attractions including Chimelong marked visitor peaks on the third and fourth days of the Lunar New Year, recording 168,100 and 167,000 visitors respectively.

Bubbles and flowers at Haibin Park

The third day of the first lunar month of the Chinese calendar saw peak passenger numbers at Gongbei Port, with visitors from the Chinese mainland going to Hong Kong, Macao and overseas. Meantime, Macao and Hong Kong residents flooded across the border to visit family members or for sightseeing.

The comparatively warm weather during the festival also drew many tourists to Zhuhai's rural areas for field pleasure and fun.

According to statistics from the tourism bureau, 62 percent of the visitors to main tourist sites were locals and people from Guangdong cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and Foshan. The other 38 percent came from outside the province, especially from Hunan, Beijing, Hubei, and Henan.

Families enjoy tourist attractions. [Photos by Zhong Fan / Zhuhai Daily]

Statistics also revealed that 78 percent of the visitors took day tours, with 15 percent staying for two days. More than 50 percent arrived by train, while 43 percent drove or took public transport, while the remainder flew in.

According to the China Travel Service Gongbei Port Guangdong and other key travel agencies in the city, Zhuhai has become a hot destination for travelers from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and the Chinese mainland -- especially other Guangdong cities.