This is Beijing-Beijing English blog

 The municipal tourism bureau figures showed that tourism revenue totaled 1.24 billion yuan, up 32 percent from the year-earlier level.

 The bureau said that the number of Beijingers traveling within the city rose by 24.5 percent year on year to 1.67 million in the three-day holiday. They spent 420 million yuan (62 million U.S. dollars) for travel.

 The bureau said it launched a program to promote the city’s new scenic spots, travels to its suburban areas and other tourism activities in neighboring regions during the holiday period, which attracted increasing tourists. Beijing’s suburban areas received 1.14 million local tourists during the holiday, according to the bureau.

 ”People only had three days off, and concerns over Influenza A/H1N1 and of savings amid the financial crisis made many people cautious to choose long travels,” said Tian Ling, a manager of China Youth Travel Services.

 She said that the agency mapped its recommended routes to suburban scenic spots and self-driving tours.

 Chinese workers had seven days off, instead of the current three days, during the May Day holiday, before a new holiday system kicked last year.

 Beijing was also one of the most popular tourist destinations for tourists from other parts of the country in the holiday, when more than 890,000 tourists from elsewhere of China visited the city, according to the tourist bureau.

 The bureau said the per-capita tourist spending increased by 12.5 percent year on year even for Beijing local tourists during the holiday because of increased travel cost.

 Junlinshengshi, a tourist agency, said the price of the city travel surged by about 30 percent for group tours.

Hong Kong and Hollywood film legend Jackie Chan, one of the promotion ambassadors for the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, performs during the ceremony to unveil the one-year countdown clock in Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square on Friday.

The clock marking the dwindling days until the Shanghai World Expo kicks off was put into motion at Tian’anmen Square on Friday by top legislator Wu Bangguo.

China became the first developing country to host the World Expo when Shanghai won the bid in December 2002 with a “better city, better life” theme.

The expo, China’s next global party after last summer’s Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, runs from May 1 to Oct 31, 2010.

Altogether 236 countries and international organizations have confirmed attendance to the event, according to organizers.

Friday marked the one-year countdown to the event, which is expected to draw 70 million visitors, 5 percent of whom will be from abroad.

Of the participating countries, 50 are from Africa, 33 from America, 45 from Europe, 45 from Asia and 16 from Oceania.

The large gathering will push Shanghai past Hannover, Germany, as the host of the biggest world expo ever.

The Hannover 2000 drew 155 countries and 17 international organizations