China lures 176 million tourists during new year

China's tourism revenue rose 23.6% during the Spring Festival holiday from the same period last year, according to the National Tourism Administration. The revenue reached 101.4 billion yuan (15.6 billion U.S. dollars) during the week-long holiday which began last Sunday, according to a statement released by the administration. Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, fell on Jan. 23 this year. It is the most important festival for Chinese and is an occasion for reunions of family members and relatives, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported today. About 5.5 billion yuan of the total tourism revenues came from airlines, while 3.05 billion yuan came from railways. Tourists spent 38.38 billion yuan in the country''s 39 key tourism cities and 54.47 billion yuan in other regions.(QNA) E V/MD