BEIJING - The number of tourists at national scenic spots increased sharply during the weeklong Nation Day holiday, causing many well-known sites to be packed with crowds.

From Oct 1 to 7, the days of the holiday, about 24.3 million tourists went to the 119 national scenic spots that are directly overseen by the National Tourism Administration. That was about 8.84 percent more than had done so in the same period of 2010.

Qiu Meiying, a 45-year-old tourist from Shandong province, who came to Beijing with her husband during the holiday, said she was "shocked" when she went to Tiananmen Square on Saturday.