Yantai receives more visitors during Qingming Festival

Visits to Yantai scenic spots increased by more than 10 percent during the three-day tomb-sweeping holiday, local media reported.

The Yantai tourism development committee launched over 40 activities such as fruit-picking, a flower festival, folk performances and a photo contest to lure more visitors. It also added more than 20 countryside resorts and three historical spots.

It is also the season to admire various blossoms in full bloom. The tourism destinations most favored by visitors are Tashan Mountain, Yantai Botanical Garden, and Kunyushan Mountain.

Other famous scenic spots like Penglai Pavilion, Longkou Nanshan Tourism Resort, Changyu Wine Culture Museum, and Sanxian Mountain ("Three Fairies Mountain") are also popular choices.

While tourists still favor natural sites, an increasing number of people chose to visit martyrs' cemeteries and sites memorializing the revolution. Visitors often chose to visit the Martyr's Monument at Yantaishan Mountain.

Rural tourism has become increasingly popular. One and two-day tours featuring fruit picking, hot springs and mountain climbing are growing in number.

Some tourist attractions offer discounted tickets on WeChat and free admission for tour guides and visitors whose birthdays coincided with the holiday.

Tomb-sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival, is an important occasion for Chinese people to honor their ancestors. Many also spent the three-day holiday on leisure travel.

A local resident photographs her daughter amid the cherry blossoms in Yantai. [Photo/shm.com.cn]