China government re-adjusted the country's official holidays. And so, on April 5th, China's Qingming will become an official holiday. Qingming is traditionally observed to worship ancestors' graves. Travel agencies are offering packages for just this purpose.

In the northeastern city of Dalian, travel agencies are promoting packages enabling people to return to their hometowns. During the tours, time will be scheduled for travellers to hold memorial ceremonies to worship ancestors and their graves.

Travel agent Lu Wantao said, "Qingming is a traditional holiday in China, our packages can help customers enjoy travelling along side worshipping ancestors' graves."

And it's proving to be popular among local people.

A Dalian resident said, "My child doesn't know about our ancestors. I will take this opportunity to help my child learn about them."

This year, the Qingming Festival will stretch three days as it includes a weekend.

The International Labor Day holiday in May has been shortened to three days...from the previous week-long holiday.

Travel agencies in Chongqing Municipality are also re-adjusting tour packages.

Tang Huang from a travel agency said, "We have organized high-speed boats for travellers to tour the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River within just one day...it used to take several days. Going by boat means people can get to a distance only an hour's drive from the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve in Hubei Province."

Throughout April in the northern province of Shanxi, various activities with Chinese traditional characteristics will be held to attract tourists. Industry analysts say prices for tour packages are good because it comes at a time when air tickets are cheap. source:cctv. 2008-03-20 21:01