Heritage sightseeing, folk dances, boat tours get China's National Day holiday off to vibrant start

China's week-long National Day holiday kicked off on Thursday with crowds flocking to world heritage sites, take part in cultural activities or join scenic river cruises, as popular tourist destinations across the country rolled out new experiences to attract holidaymakers.

The National Day holiday, also referred to as "Golden Week" in China, runs from Oct 1 to 7, sparking a major travel rush as people up and down the country take the chance to enjoy a short getaway.

At the Chengde Mountain Resort in north China's Hebei Province -- an area which boasts the world's largest existing imperial garden and temple complex and is designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site -- visitors have been admiring the autumn scenery and exploring the site's historical heritage, celebrating the holiday in a lively atmosphere.

The scenic area has introduced a range of trendy cultural experiences and immersive interactive programs during the week-long holiday, adding further enjoyment to these picturesque gardens and lakes.

"When I arrived here, I could feel that autumn had set in. I experienced the autumn breeze and autumn scenery, so it's a very good experience," said Tao Xueting, a tourist from Shanghai.

The resort expects that the period from Friday to Monday will be the peak time for holiday visitors. While maintaining routine cultural relic protection and safety measures, the scenic area has added a host of special cultural performances and themed tour routes to provide an enhanced tourism experience during the busy season.

Meanwhile, the rural Lianghe County of the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province has burst into life, as local residents and tourists gather to join the traditional Munao Zongge dance, a national-level intangible cultural heritage event.

Meaning "dancing together" in the local Jingpo dialect, "Munao Zongge" is a traditional artform of the Jingpo people, a custom which is usually performed during grand festive occasions as a way to pray for good luck.

At the event, lead dancers in colorful traditional dress guided people of all ethnic groups as well as visitors into the designated dancing space, where they moved in circles to the bouncy rhythmic accompaniment. The lengthy dancing procession created a magnificent scene from above, as groups moved in tandem to the music.

In southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, the first day of the holiday brought a peak in water passenger traffic along the Yangtze River. Tourists boarded boats to take in the majestic Kuimen, a gateway to the steepest gorges of the Yangtze River, and enjoy the autumn scenery of the Three Gorges, enjoying a poetic landscape by the riverside.

Relying on the unique landscape of Kuimen, the Three Gorges water tour has become a popular choice for the National Day holiday, with many tourists from all over the country coming to experience the dramatic river scenery up close.

"It was deeply impressive. The scenery is quite beautiful, and the historical culture around the region is also very rich," said Zhang Gangtao, a tourist from Xi'an City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

During this year's National Day holiday, a total of 162 passenger ships are operating in the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River. Maritime authorities estimate the total passenger volume in the section will exceed 600,000, a slight increase from the same period last year.

Heritage sightseeing, folk dances, boat tours get China's National Day holiday off to vibrant start

U.S. stocks finished modestly higher on Thursday as benchmark Treasury yields eased from fresh multi-decade highs, though gains were capped by advancing crude oil prices and mixed corporate results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.51 points, or 0.04 percent, to 50,926.56. The benchmark Standard and Poor's 500 added 14.91 points, or 0.19 percent, to 7,666.45, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10.53 points, or 0.04 percent, to finish at 26,871.6.

Six of the 11 primary Standard and Poor's 500 sectors closed in negative territory, with healthcare and communication services pacing the decliners by dropping 1.3 percent and 1.19 percent, respectively. Energy and industrials led the advancers, climbing 1.92 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

In the fixed-income market, borrowing costs pulled back from intraday highs. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note eased to 5.24 percent after spiking earlier in the session to 5.34 percent, touching a new multi-decade peak. The 30-year Treasury bond yield similarly hovered near levels not seen in 24 years before moderating into the close.

Commodity markets saw notable gains, reigniting supply-side inflation concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery advanced 2.45 U.S. dollars, or 2.71 percent, to settle at 92.87 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for December delivery climbed 4.28 dollars, or 4.37 percent, to close at 102.31 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

On the corporate front, Accenture soared almost 16 percent to pace the Standard and Poor's 500 after fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat expectations and its fiscal 2027 earnings guidance came in above analysts' expectations.

Semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology jumped over 3 percent after reporting blowout quarterly earnings, with revenue rising nearly fourfold year on year. Meanwhile, scrutiny over financing arrangements within the artificial intelligence sector intensified following a Reuters report that Broadcom agreed to lend AI startup Anthropic up to 42 billion U.S. dollars to finance infrastructure spending. Anthropic is projected to become Broadcom's largest compute customer by next year.

On the macroeconomic front, initial filings for state unemployment benefits dropped for the fourth consecutive week, pointing to resilience in the U.S. labor market. In addition, executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas reported that planned corporate layoffs fell in September, pointing to a persistent "low hire, low fire" employment landscape ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report.

U.S. stocks edge up as chip stocks rally, bond yields retreat