Tibetan traditonal dance during the 2016 Yarlung Tourism and Culture Festival in Tibet's Shannan city. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]

Around 4.1 million domestic and overseas tourists visited Shannan city of China's Southwest Tibet autonomous region in 2018, an increase of 17.8 percent year-on-year, local tourism authorities said recently.

The city's tourism revenue jumped 18.3 percent from a year earlier to more than 1.68 billion yuan ($250 million) last year, said Li Yiqiang, deputy director of the city's Commission of Tourism Development.

In the spring of 2018, the commission conducted tourism promotion activities in southern and eastern provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangsu provinces to let more people know more about the city, Li said.

Shannan is known as the cradle of Tibetan people and Tibetan culture; it has the first Tibetan Buddhism monastery Samye, the first Tibetan palace Yumbu Lakhar, and the Yardrok Yutso Lake.

Yumbu Lakhar, Tibet's first palace, and an attraction both for tourists and pilgrims. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]