As expected, the Shanghai World Expo has boosted tourism not only in the host city, but the whole Yangtze River Delta region, during the May Day holiday. Various packages featuring expo related tours have attracted visitors from around the country. Cities near Shanghai posted a record number of travellers.

Cities and towns across Jiangsu province are teeming with visitors during this May Day holiday. Huishan town in Wuxi, added fresh expo related elements to entice would-be travellers. Many are visiting the town, together with the Shanghai World Expo.

"We used the opportunity of the world expo, to travel to other nearby cities, to have more fun," a visitor said.

Wuxi acts as a great meeting place for the expo. Ten travel routes have been recommended by Shanghai World Expo organizers. During the May Day holiday, Wuxi welcomed a record 3 million travellers, up 35 percent compared to the same period last year. Around a third of the travellers were coming as part of a trip to the expo. The city has raked in nearly 500 million yuan. Luxury and budget hotels had a 96-percent occupancy rate.

Hu Dashan, a Wuxi travel agent, said "To welcome travellers going to the world expo, we offered 30 tour packages. So far the packages are selling fast. We received more than 10,000 visitors during the May Day holiday."

Cities within a two hours drive from Shanghai, including Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing and Changzhou all posted a record number of visitors during the holiday.

(CCTV.com May 4, 2010)