Chinese tourism authority urges precautions to prevent accidents

BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has urged local authorities to search for and eliminate hidden safety hazards at cultural and tourist facilities, venues and sites.

The ministry said it is sending seven additional working groups to guide and oversee local authorities' efforts to implement safety measures and guard against accidents from Saturday.

The decision was announced following an emergency meeting on tourist accident prevention held on Friday.

This year, the week-long national holiday has been extended to Oct 8 as the Mid-Autumn Festival also fell on Oct 1, China's National Day. The holiday is expected to see travel peaks as the epidemic has been well controlled across China.