Tourists view blooming azalea flowers at Longquan Mountain in Danzhai County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 26, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday issued strict epidemic prevention measures at tourist attractions across the country during the upcoming May Day holiday, which is said to be the hottest holiday since the COVID-19 pandemic with over 200 million Chinese expected to travel.

Under the new rules, Chinese holiday-goers are required to make appointments before visiting tourist attractions during the five-day holiday that begins on May 1. Scenic spots are also required to strictly follow restrictions on crowd size as determined in local COVID-19 prevention measures. 

Apart from booking tickets in advance, all tourist attractions will require visitors to register by scanning health code before entry, and have their temperature taken, according to the ministry.

All visitors are required to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding at peak time. Thorough disinfections are also required for all vehicles, hotels and restaurants, the ministry said in a notice.

About 200 million Chinese are ready to hit the road for the May Day holiday, which is expected to be the hottest holiday since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus seriously disrupted the tourism market. The number of holiday-goers is expected to surpass the pre-pandemic levels in 2019. 

Train and air tickets booking have already skyrocketed. For some popular destinations including Northwest China such as Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Qinghai Province, train tickets bookings have been up by nearly two fold compared to the same period of 2019. Airlines bookings for the holiday are up 23 percent compared with 2019, and economy-class tickets are now sold out for many hot routes, data from Trip.com, an online travel agency, showed. 

Global Times