Almost a million on holiday in the district

THE National Day holiday from October 1 to 7 saw almost a million tourists visiting Songjiang and a booming consumer market.

The 12 scenic spots received a total of 988,600 tourists, generating revenue of 38.63 million yuan (US$5.6 million), up 36.47 percent and 30.9 percent respectively year on year.

Guangfulin Relics Park, Shanghai Happy Valley and Chenshan Botanical Garden received 119,300, 141,700 and 85,500 visitors.

Shanghai Happy Valley International Magic Festival, Culture and Arts Festival at Shanghai Film Park and Songjiang Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival, all listed as part of the Shanghai Tourism Festival this year, attracted visitors from both Shanghai as well as the Yangtze River Delta region cities.

A 1,000-people camping festival was held at Guangfulin Relics Park, with more than 600 families taking part.

Traditional celebrations at Fangta Park and Zuibai Pond Park remained popular with visitors this year. Fangta Park launched a publishing ceremony of an essay collection about the garden and held photographic exhibitions to introduce its history.

Zuibai Pond Park held activities such as calligraphy and painting exhibitions, operas, Han ethnic culture demonstration, students’ sketching activity and (Chinese zither) concerts.

Xinbang Rural Tourism Festival, listed as part of the Shanghai Tourism Festival for the first time, offered tourists the chance to eat local food, live in farmhouses and experience the countryside scenery.

The past National Day holiday overlapped with Songjiang Shopping Festival which lasted from September 28 to November 11. Various shopping malls, supermarkets, as well as companies saw their sales booming.

Songjiang Wangda Plaza reported sales revenue of 79.167 million yuan during the sevenday holiday, up 3.03 percent year on year. Kaiyuan Dizhonghai Business Plaza, with its creative fair and children’s talent show, recorded sales of 56.64 million yuan, up 7.54 percent year on year.

The sales revenue of 32 enterprises, department stores and shopping malls, restaurants and big supermarkets from September 24 to October 7 amounted to 405 million yuan, 223 million yuan, 7.86 million yuan and 72.1 million yuan respectively, according to Songjiang economic affairs committee statistics.