A tea garden and a hot spring in East Overseas Chinese Town (OCT), which opened on a trial basis Feb. 9, attracted a huge crowd of curious visitors and caused a jump in ticket sales at nearby resorts along Shenzhen's east coast during the Spring Festival holiday.

The Chaxigu theme park, or "tea creek valley" in English, is part of the first phase of the under-construction East OCT project. Along with the hot spring town which is modeled on Interlagen in Switzerland, the tea garden received more than 80,000 visitors between Feb. 9 and 24, according to Yuan Tiejian, a senior manager of the park.

The new attraction also rekindled people's interest in the east coast, bringing more visitors to Sea World in Xiaomeisha as well as Minsk World, an aircraft-carrier-turned theme park in Yantian District.

Sea World received a record 10,012 tourists Feb. 18, the first day of the lunar New Year, a 40 percent rise in comparison to a year ago. The number of visitors on the following three days was also 30 percent more than the same period last year.

Minsk World received more than 60,000 visitors during the weeklong holiday, much more than the figure recorded last year, said Xu Jing with the park.

"We launched a Russian folk culture festival to entertain tourists, offering songs, dances, magic shows, desserts and handicrafts. But the new tea garden may have helped boost our business, as it enhances the appeal of the whole area," Xu said.

More than 5,000 people visited Chaxigu on Feb. 18 alone, and all 1,500 parking spaces in the park were filled by 1 p.m. With thousands driving to the Xiaomeisha beach as well, the only road to the theme park was jammed, and traffic police were sent to keep order. Though it drizzled between Feb. 19 and 22, the park received nearly 10,000 tourists daily, who arrived in about 2,500 cars.

"I went Wednesday. There were so many people queuing up to ride on a sightseeing train. I waited two hours with my daughter," said Futian resident Zhang Min. Apart from the 80-yuan (US$10.26) entrance ticket, the park charges another 80 yuan for the train ride.

"The place is very beautiful with refreshing scenery and air. But the traffic is a nuisance. They also charged me 35 yuan for a bowl of noodles," complained another tourist at the exit of the park Friday.

The management of East OCT has promised to add more sightseeing trains and improve road facilities leading to the park.

Editor: Yan