Passengers line up to have tickets checked at Changsha South Railway Station in Changsha, central China's Hunan province, Oct 8, 2020.  (CHEN ZEGUO / XINHUA)

China's eight-day Golden Week holiday has reflected the country's impressive recovery and its economic bounceback from the COVID-19 epidemic, with more than half a billion people on the move for a long-awaited vacation and factories stepping up production to complete new orders.

Amid regular epidemic control, the peak season of tourism-driven consumption boom for National Day celebration that coincides with the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival this year was also a test field for China's new economic development pattern of "dual circulation."

As a pivotal part of the "dual circulation" development pattern floated by China's top leadership in May that encourages domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, the country's enormous market and expanding domestic demand during the holiday has gathered sound momentum for China's economy to further perk up.

Data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry showed that tourist attractions across China received a total of 637 million visits from Oct 1 to 8 - 79 percent of the visits made last year on a comparable basis

Data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry showed that tourist attractions across China received a total of 637 million visits from Oct 1 to 8 - 79 percent of the visits made last year on a comparable basis.

Tourism revenue reached 466.56 billion yuan (about US$68.5 billion), a recovery of 69.9 percent of the revenue gained in the same period in 2019, according to the ministry.

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In Wuhan, the heroic city once hard hit by coronavirus but has restored its vigor, visitors ambled by the Yellow Crane Tower as the historic building launched night tours for the first time since its opening to the public in 1985 after reconstruction. The landmark topped the "country's hottest scenic spots" rankings by China's largest online travel agency Trip.com Group.

"The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is the same as usual, so is the roaring Yangtze flowing eastward," Wang Yu, a tourist from Hubei's Enshi City, said while enjoying a distant view on top of the tower.

"What's different is the heavy traffic on the bridge and the passing cargo ships on the river. Wuhan returns to life!" Wang said.

Top scenic sites in central China's Hubei Province received over 2.07 million visitors in the first seven days of the holiday, according to the provincial culture and tourism department, with 30 key scenic sites raking in 205 million yuan from Oct 1 to Oct 7.

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In Beijing, more than 90,000 people, standing in the drizzling autumn rain, gathered at Tian'anmen Square on Oct. 1 and burst into cheers as the five-starred red flag was hoisted to the top of the flagpole, accompanied by the national anthem.

According to the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, some 40 museums in the city have offered more than 100 special cultural activities for the holiday, with 13 museums extending opening hours or providing night-time activities on Oct 1, on which the Mid-Autumn Festival fell.

Shoppers wearing face masks look at offerings from souvenir shops in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 4, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

The Palace Museum, also known as the 600-year-old Forbidden City, raised for the third time its daily visitor cap up to 30,000 since it partially reopened from May 1.

Payments over its network exceeded 330 billion yuan on Oct 1, an increase of 15.5 percent over the same day of last year

Unlike in previous years, some museums have moved part of their activities online while maintaining on-site visits to avoid crowd gathering during this year's Golden Week, said Li Yang with the administration.

The Beijing Road pedestrian street in the southern city of Guangzhou, after two years of modification, took on a new look with full 5G coverage and attracted over 4 million visitors during the holiday, with a sales turnover of more than 600 million yuan, up 160 percent year on year.

In central China's Hunan province, the temperature plunge did not restrain visitors' passion for Zhangjiajie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its forest parks. The picturesque tourist spot received 1.8 million visitors in the first five days of the holiday, with total tourism revenue exceeding 1.3 billion yuan.

"I made travel plans and booked the tickets before setting out," said Li Lin from Beijing who visited the Wulingyuan scenic area in Zhangjiajie.

She was very much impressed by the smart face-scanning quick pass, noise-free wireless audio guide, clean and tidy tourist trails, as well as zero-contact customer services. "The distinctive scenery, good tourism facilities and services have offered me a great travel experience."

Chinese card payment giant China UnionPay saw its online payments go up by 9.6 percent year on year to 921.5 billion yuan during the first three days of the holiday, with payments over its network exceeding 330 billion yuan on Oct 1, an increase of 15.5 percent over the same day of last year.