People enjoying May Day holiday across China

Tourists across the country are enjoying travel, food and rich local cultural activities during the five-day International Workers' Day, or May Day.

Beijing's major scenic spots and parks are experiencing a strong flow of visitors.

Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park has received an average of over 100,000 visitors per day in the past two days, representing a growth of over 40 percent compared to last year.

The number of visitors who made reservations to visit the historic Badaling Great Wall for a panoramic view reached 80,000 on the second day of the holiday. The scenic area has opened up emergency exit gates on both the north and south sides to facilitate visitors' descent from the mountain. "I brought my children here to visit world-class cultural relics and historic sites, and to experience the beauty of our magnificent landscapes in China," said a tourist.

Tourists have also been flocking to Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China renowned for its magnificent natural scenery which includes the "Four Wonders" -- the Sea of Clouds, oddly-shaped pines, oddly-shaped rocks and hot springs. The Sea of Cloud is probably the most wonderful of the four.

In Zhongwei City in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, tourists visited the Shapotou scenic spot in the desert, with some taking to the vast sea of sand on camel back.

The Benxi Water Cave in Benxi City in northeast China's Liaoning Province, welcomed its peak season with tourists coming in their droves to see the underground karst formations that stretch for more than 5 kilometers.

Gulangyu, an island in east China's Fujian Province, was thronged with tourists attracted by its picturesque scenery and historic cultural charm.

By 10:00 on Thursday, the number of people on the island had exceeded 15,000, about three times the number on normal days.

In Pu'er City's Mojiang County in southwest China's Yunnan Province, over 20 ethnic minority performance groups came together to provide a vibrant display of folk culture, allowing visitors from all over the country to experience their colorful traditions.

In the downtown area of Urumqi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, a team of purebred ferghana horses paraded along the road, attracting the attention of both local residents and tourists.

Visitors have the chance to appreciate the precious ferghana horses up close and even have a chance to ride them on a horseback city tour.

A cultural and creative products market was Amon different activities organized to allow visitors to experience the cultural charm at the Norbulingka, a world heritage site in Lhasa City in southwest China's Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region.

In Xuzhou City in east China's Jiangsu Province, a recently refurbished temple is open to visitors with free admission. The harmonious blend of the historical architectural complex with the surrounding commercial area has captivated both tourists and locals.

On the banks of Daming Lake scenic spot in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, willow trees sway gracefully and vibrant flowers bloom, creating a picturesque scene. People enjoy boating on the lake, indulging in the beauty of the springtime holiday.

On the banks of the Haihe River in Tianjin, a music concert under the stars enchanted local residents and tourists.

In Wuhan City in central China's Hubei Province, many scenic spots saw surging numbers of visitors in the first two days of the holiday and a special night cruise on the Yangtze River has become a popular tourist attraction, with brilliant light shows illuminating thousands of buildings along the river, creating a dazzling urban landscape.

People enjoying May Day holiday across China

Centuries-old maps handed down to fishermen by their ancestors in Tanmen Township of China's southernmost Hainan Province provides compelling evidence to China's sovereignty over the South China Sea, according to a China Global Television Network (CGTN) documentary released on Friday.

Like many people in Tanmen, Lu Jiabing was born into a fishermen' family going back generations. What distinguishes Lu's family is a treasured family heirloom -- a booklet used to navigate the South China Sea which Tanmen residents call "Genglubu", meaning "Route Map."

Each family's Genglubu is different from another. Passed down through successive generations, the documents embody the Tanmen fishermen's adventurer spirits, and have become an important basis for China's territorial rights in the South China Sea. "I'm not sure when this Genglubu was written. Anyway, it's been passed down from generation to generation, and I'm the sixth in line to inherit it. We used it along with a compass at sea. The needle of the compass points toward south and north. 'Zi' refers to north and 'Wu' to south. There are 24 squares, each containing one character. One square represents 15 degrees, and there are 360 degrees in total," Lu told CGTN.

Out on the vast ocean, the compass and Genglubu have forged new routes at sea for the fishermen over the past centuries. One line of text on the map indicates a route From the Xisha Islands' Panshiyu in the central part of the sea to the Nansha Islands' Shuangzi in its south, covering some 280 nautical miles.

Among Tanmen's fishermen of centuries past, there were several hundred Genglubu in circulation, and the Lu family's manuscript is one of the most detailed. It records 135 routes -- 84 in the Nansha Islands and 38 in the Xisha Islands.

"One red circle represents a single sea route. Our ancestors' exploration covered the entire South China Sea. It has been passed down through generations. Whenever my grandfather headed out to sea, he would read Genglubu by the light of kerosene lamp the previous night. I'd climb on his back to look at it along with him. In the beginning, I would follow my father to work in the Nansha Islands. We would stay there for six months. We sailed all over the Nansha Islands," said Lu.

Long before satellite navigation or even accurate nautical charts came into being, Hainan fishermen used Genglubu and drove wooden sailboats to cultivate the sea. These documents have survived to witness the development the South China Sea islands by local people.

"This is the sea chart passed down in my family. The names marked on the entire nautical chart were all left by our ancestors. Meiji Island (Panganiban Reef) was called 'Shuangmen.' These are the sections that are connected. We call them 'Duanjie' as it's easier to remember. Its official name is Ren'ai Reef. These places are known as the 'ancestral waters.' These are the places our ancestors explored and developed. So, I feel proud of them," Lu said.

Centuries-old map shows how ancient Chinese fishermen navigated South China Sea