Travelers set Pudong Shanghai record for six months

A record 8.24 million tourists came in and out of Shanghai through Pudong International Airport in the first six months of the year.

Hong Kong has become the most visited overseas destination by mainland Chinese leaving Shanghai by air.

Pudong immigration police said yesterday that 69,000 flights landed at the airport in the six months.

Passenger numbers were up 10.6 and landings up 15.5 percent on the first half of last year, both hitting record levels since the Pudong airport was opened for service in October, 1999.

Hong Kong overtook Japan as the most frequent overseas destination for mainland residents leaving Pudong airport.

The United States, Australia and Thailand were the next three most popular destinations.

The number of foreign visitors making the trip to Shanghai is also booming.

Up to 4.77 million foreigners landed at Pudong airport in the first half year, up 13 percent from a year earlier.

Japan, South Korea, the United States, Germany and Singapore were the top five sources of travelers, bringing in nearly 60 percent of all foreign air travelers to Shanghai.

The number of Chinese nationals leaving the country through Pudong reached 2.14 million in the first half of the year, rising 10 percent from the same period last year.

"Shanghai grants a 48-hour no-visa stay for foreigner travelers before they fly to a third country," the immigration police said.

The policy applies to natives of the Unites States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and 15 members of the European Schengen Visa Agreement.

More than 100 foreign travelers took advantage of this policy every day in the first six months, the police said.