HANGZHOU, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- East China's Zhejiang Province, home to such renowned scenic spots as the West Lake, earned more than 136 billion yuan (17 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenuein 2005, up 23.5 percent from 2004, the provincial tourism administration announced Tuesday.

    The province reported 3.4 million overseas visitors in 2005. They spent 1.6 billion U.S. dollars of foreign exchange, up 22 percent. Domestic visitors reached 127 million and spent 123 billion yuan (15.4 billion U.S. dollars), the administration said.

    As a main industry in Zhejiang, tourism also contributes an estimated 2.9 million people jobs, according to the administration.

    Zhejiang ranked fifth among provincial or autonomous areas on the Chinese mainland in terms of the number of overseas tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings in 2005, said Zhong Shan, vice governor of Zhejiang.

    In 2005, Zhejiang launched a series of tourist activities during China's "golden week" holidays and held tourism promotions across the country and in some foreign countries to attract more visitors, according to the administration.

    Zhejiang is famous for tourist attractions such as prestigious Qiandao Lake in western Zhejiang, picturesque West Lake and elegant Leifeng Pagoda located in its capital, Hangzhou. Enditem