The year of the dog has kicked off with a bang as six people have been arrested in Nanjing for letting off fireworks. In other news, Spring Festival tourism has seen a significant increase in traffic through Lukou airport.
Nanjing city has 44 firework-free zones, where the letting off of fireworks has been made illegal; people face prosecution if caught. Anyone caught buying, selling or using fireworks can face serious fines or detention.
The zones account for 66.7 percent of the main urban area of the city. The ban is said to have wiped out fire, injury and air quality problems in the city during the Spring Festival period. On the spot arrests were made in Gulou, Jiangbei, Nanhu and Gaochun this holiday, resulting in detention and fines of ¥200.
Meanwhile, those who chose the less traditional way to spend the new year through tourism, possibly on account of not being able to buy a train ticket, participated in what was a 30 percent increase in traffic flowing through Nanjing Lukou International Airport. Jetsetters flew off to popular international destinations such as Sydney, Phuket, Saipan, Da Nang and St. Petersburg.
According to budget booking APP Tuniu, domestic hotspots were divided into Northern “Ice and Snow travel” which featured Harbin, Jilin and so on; Southern “Warm Winters”, including Dali, Lijiang, Xiamen and Xishuangbanna; and “Year-long Food Tours” that brought in Beijing, Shanghai and our own Nanjing.
Tourism companies have released data showing that Nanjing was this Chinese New Year one of China’s top 20 destinations for travel, welcoming over 11,000 tourists.
