A record 472,000 overseas tourists arrived in the Chinese
capital in October, pushing the number of foreign visitors to the
city to 3.68 million in the first 10 months.
Sources with the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau said on
Wednesday that October arrivals were 13.6 percent higher than the
same period a year earlier.
During the January-October period, foreign nationals made 3.23
million visits to Beijing, up 14.2 percent. Compatriots from Hong
Kong, Macao and Taiwan contributed 449,000 visits, up 3.1
percent.
The combined figure was a 12.7-percent increase over the same
period in 2006, a growth rate of 5.5 percentage points.
The United States was the city's number one source of overseas
tourists with 521,000 arrivals, up 21.7 percent, in the first 10
months. Japan was second with 488,000 visits, up 20.1 percent,
followed by the ROK at 383,000, an increase of 6.8 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)