China's inbound tourism up 130 pct during Labor Day holiday

China's tourism industry has seen strong demand from international travelers during the five-day Labor Day holiday ending Sunday.

Official data shows that the country's inbound travel bookings during the May Day holiday increased by 130 percent year-on-year.

One of the popular tourist destinations has been Leshan City in southwest China's Sichuan Province. It is home to the 71-meter-tall Leshan Giant Buddha, which was carved out of a hillside in the 8th century and looks down on the confluence of three rivers.

A Czech tour group took a cruise to catch a glimpse of the majestic millennium-old grotto relics.

"Actually I have seen some photos already before, but it really is much more beautiful. It was amazing. Yes, I really liked it," said Maria, one of the Czech tourists.

In east China's Zhejiang Province, groups of overseas holidaymakers have also been flocking to Shizhuang Village to explore the local culture and ancient architecture.

"I like the wicker ball. It's good fun. I enjoyed it a lot. Beautiful, it really is. It's fantastic. I love all the old buildings in the mountains. It's amazing," said Robbie Alexander, a British tourist.

Beijing's Temple of Heaven welcomed some British tourists who donned traditional Chinese costumes, with the eldest among them aged more than 80. 

The Temple of Heaven, founded in the first half of the 15th century, is a place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) worshipped heaven for bumper harvests.

China's inbound tourism up 130 pct during Labor Day holiday

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend more than 10 billion dollars to purchase air defense and interceptor missiles, and several billion dollars more to purchase various other types of missiles, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.

According to the report, documents drafted by the U.S. Department of Defense and submitted to the defense committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives indicate that these funds will be used to procure 5.75 billion dollars’ worth of THAAD interceptor missiles and 5.57 billion dollars’ worth of Patriot missile segment enhancements. The procurement list also includes 1.9 billion dollars’ worth of Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) and 1.3 billion dollars' worth of Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as 692 million dollars for the procurement of precision-strike missiles, which was used for the first time in the war with Iran.

The report said that as U.S. forces struck Iran and intercepted its drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases in the Middle East, concerns are rising about the weapons stockpiles. U.S. lawmakers, defense officials, and analysts have stated that the current US weapons stockpiles are at dangerously low levels.

CBS News, citing U.S. military and intelligence officials, reported earlier this month that the rapid depletion of U.S. air defense interceptors and precision-guided weapons during the U.S.-Iran conflict had raised concerns within the U.S. government.

Pentagon plans to spend over 10 bln dollars on missile purchase