(TibetanReview.net, May03’20) – Amid continued absence of any Covid-19 infection report, China has gradually reopened natural scenic areas in many places across the Tibet Autonomous Region for the ongoing five-day May Day holiday, reported the official Xinhua news agency May 2. With a record to beat in terms of millions of Chinese tourists visiting the region, the reopening could not have come too soon for the local Chinese authorities.
The report said more than 800 tourists visited Namtso, a picturesque lake in the northwest outskirts of Tibet’s historical capital Lhasa, on the first day of the holiday, the report said, citing a scenic area staff member. More than 70 per cent of the tourists were reported to have been self-driving travellers.
The report cited local tourism authorities as saying Lhasa had offered a batch of short tourist routes starting May 1, including sightseeing trips to the countryside, mountains and lakes, strawberry picking as well as exhibitions of intangible cultural heritages.
The report said tourist attractions and religious sites prone to crowding, such as the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple, had remained closed.
More than 23 million domestic tourist trips were made on May across the People’s Republic of China, with the domestic tourism revenue reaching over 9.7 billion yuan (about US$1.38 billion), China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism was cited as saying.
