Tourism Economy Meets Rapid Recovery In National Holiday

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said there were nearly 97 million domestic tourist trips Thursday, the first day of an eight-day national holiday.

It also saw 76.65 billion yuan ($11.29 billion) in tourism revenues nationally - or 68.9% of last year's figure.

About 14.8 million people took trains Oct. 1 and 12.39 million people rode the day before, according to statistics released by China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. Up to 1,206 trains were added to meet holiday demand.

As many as 1.1 million people visited 223 tourist attractions in Beijing on Thursday, a rise of 69.8% year on year, and 950,000 people visited 150 tourist attractions in Shanghai, an increase of 110%.

It is estimated 600 million people will travel during the national holiday.

Brazilian Beef Halted Over Coronavirus 

China will halt beef imports from a Brazilian producer for one week, said China's General Administration of Customs on Thursday after finding a batch of frozen boneless beef packages that tested positive for COVID-19. 

The Brazilian producer is identified as MINERVA S.A. The authority said China's imports from this Brazilian producer will automatically resume one week later. 

In June, another Brazilian beef exporter, Agra Agroindustrial De Alimentos, voluntarily halted beef exports to China after there was a coronavirus outbreak among its employees. 

China imported 1.7 million tons of beef in 2019 with Brazil being one of its main sources.

Tianwen-1 First Selfie In Space To Celebrate National Holiday

China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 has taken its first set of "selfie" images, showing the Chinese spacecraft dazzling in the darkness of space while traveling to Mars, according to China National Space Administration on Thursday.

Captured by a 680-gram camera and a measurement sensor installed on the outer wall of probe, the images showed China's five-star red flag dazzling with the golden orbiter and the silver lander and rover against the darkness of the void. The photos were transmitted to the probe via Wi-Fi communication and then transmitted back to the ground by the probe.

China's first fully homegrown Mars mission, Tianwen-1, was launched July 23 aboard a Long March 5 rocket. Its mission includes scientific objectives including mapping morphology and geological structures, investigating the surface soil characteristics and water-ice distribution on the planet.

It has successfully completed several tasks including capturing photos of the Earth and moon, completing two midcourse orbital corrections and conducting self-checks of the payload.

As of midnight Sept. 30, Tianwen-1 has flown about 188 million kilometers and is currently 24.10 million kilometers from Earth. It is expected to reach Mars in February.