Tourist attractions in the Chinese capital Beijing and the eastern metropolis Shanghai saw surging numbers of visits on Thursday, the first day of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, illustrating a strong recovery in the virus-ravaged tourism sector.

In Beijing, 223 major tourist attractions registered about 1.1 million visits on Thursday, up 69.8 percent year on year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said, adding that their tourism revenues also surged 219.6 percent over the same day last year.

Among the most popular destinations are Wangfujing shopping street and Nanluoguxiang Lane, known for its well-preserved quadrangle courtyards, which received 150,000 and 79,000 tourists on Thursday, respectively.

In Shanghai, over 150 main tourist attractions welcomed 950,000 visits on Thursday, showing a 110 percent year-on-year increase, according to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.

Outdoor sites such as the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden and the Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park registered the highest year-on-year rises, the administration said.

Visitor numbers at several popular landmarks, such as the Bund and the Lujiazui area, were more than 60 percent of those for last year, showing a sizeable recovery from the effects of the pandemic.

Despite lingering COVID-19 concerns, the administration said 90 museums in the city opened to the public on Thursday and received 80,400 visits, growing 98.8 percent year on year. The city's cultural and tourism sites will also host over 100 online activities during the holiday.

Local authorities said they will run checks on tourist sites, hotels, restaurants, museums and entertainment venues to ensure safety and epidemic control precautions are well implemented.

Shanghai is expected to be a popular destination during the eight-day holiday, a season of tourism and consumption boom that is set to inject momentum into China's recovering economy. Enditem