Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009

    SHANGHAI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai has received 1.57 million tourists in the first three days of the weeklong holiday of traditional Spring Festival, according to local authorities on Wednesday.

    Statistics from the holiday management office of Shanghai municipal government showed that the number was up 4.7 percent from the same period of last year.

    A folk lantern fair attracted 1.18 million tourists, up 12.3 percent from last year. The landmark Oriental Pearl Tower and the Jinmao Tower, the tallest building in the Chinese mainland and second tallest in Asia, greeted 660,000 and 170,000 tourists, up 4.8 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively.

    Good weather was cited as a reason for the increase.

    Spring Festival fell on this past Monday. It is the biggest festival for the Chinese people.