The crowds are back. Tourist sites across China are drawing enormous numbers of visitors over the Labor Day holiday, creating scenes of overcrowding rarely glimpsed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though there has been much grumbling about the holiday’s strange schedule — which requires people to work on weekends to compensate for their days off — millions of people have still taken advantage of the five-day break to go on vacation. And with international travel still restricted, domestic venues are cashing in.

Passengers line up to board their trains at Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, April 30, 2021. People Visual

A father holds his son while passing through the ticket barriers at Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, May 1, 2021. People Visual

People visit the Great Wall during the Labor Day holiday in Beijing, May 1, 2021. Noel Celis/AFP/People Visual

Crowds of people are packed onto the Great Wall during the Labor Day holiday in Beijing, May 1, 2021. Noel Celis/AFP/People Visual

An aerial view of a beach in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, May 2, 2021. Wang Chun/People Visual

Tourists visit the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, May 2, 2021. Wang Jianchun/People Visual