BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhuanet) -- China's capital Beijing witnessed the first tourism peak Tuesday in the golden week following the May Day holiday, as soaring numbers of tourists visited sites throughout the city, according to the Beijing Leading Group for Holiday Tourism.

    The tourism department said the city's 20 major tourism sites received 594,500 visitors Tuesday, up 29.24 percent from the same period last year.

    The Forbidden City and Longqing Gorge, two famous sight spots in the city, received 84,900 tourists and 15,000 tourists respectively, both above the maximum handling capacity for the spots. The figures were up 43.7 and 76 percent respectively over last year.

    Hotels in the city also enjoyed high check-in rates of 70 percent and above Tuesday. Enditem