QINGDAO received more than 1.31 million tourists during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, an 18.28 percent increase from last year, according to statistics of the city’s travel bureau. The tourists brought to the city a total income of more than 1.6 billion yuan, a more than 23-percent increase from last year. Besides a variety of shows featuring the Year of the Dragon, the resorts in the city provided big ticket discounts to attract short-distance tourists. All the local resorts reported an increase in the number of visitors during the holiday. The Laoshan resort received more than 10,000 visitors and Qingdao Underwater World saw more than 51,000 visitors. Meanwhile, it has become increasingly popular for local residents to travel during the Spring Festival holiday. Many residents drove or took buses to the resorts near the city. An underwater performance was staged at the central hall at Qingdao Underwater World. The performance featured dragon elements to mark the Year of the Dragon. (Li Hao, Tian Lu) ? | 