Sichuan celebrates Dragon Boat Festival

While Sichuan Province recovers from the devastation of last month's quake, it still managed to give a warm welcome to tourists over the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Travellers were joined special tours around the quake-hit areas.

Tourist attractions in Sichuan Province are making full efforts to resume over the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Leshan, a famous mountain in the province, has held special prayers. And that has attracted many travellers keen to leave blessings in the region that has seen so much death and destruction.

Tourist said "There are relatively fewer travellers than before. But It's still great here."

"I hope that people in the quake-hit zone can stay positive and recover soon."

Many tourist attractions in Sichuan have managed to repair damaged buildings and showcase folk customs to give travellers an unforgettable experience of the Dragon Boat Festival.

"It's great here. The stores and service establishments are both better than before." a tourist said.

"The street is gorgeous. I love the architecture... "

"I've been here before. It's beautiful and wonderful..."

While in the provincial capital of Chengdu, visitors with a taste for history took the chance to tour the Tomb of Zhuge Liang, a famous military strategist and statesman during the Three Kingdoms Period. That's about 2 thousand years ago.

"I've never been to China before. I want to see something about China..."

The devastating earthquake last month has caused severe damage to historic sites and other tourism spots in Sichuan. Official figures show that the earthquake has caused at least 70 billion yuan, or about 10 billion US dollars, in tourism losses. That's more than half of the province's total tourism revenues for 2007.