Millions of Chinese tourists usually would use their weeklong National Day holidays to travel abroad.

This year, travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic mean that some 600 million tourists — about 40% of the population — will travel within China during the holiday that began Thursday, according to Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency.

That’s still down 25% from last year, when tourists took 782 million domestic trips and generated tourism revenue of 650 billion yuan ($95.4 billion), according to government data.

The eight-day holiday coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival and will be a litmus test of whether China’s tourism industry can bounce back after the battering it took earlier in the year.

The weeklong holiday in October is typically the busiest time for domestic travel.

24-year-old nurse Zeng Xiaoqi traveled from Hunan province to Beijing to celebrate her mother’s birthday.

She said she took nucleic acid test before traveling and made sure requirements and preparations were complete before traveling

71-year-old Chen Xinhua, a retired university professor in Heilongjiang’s Daqing, said he felt safer traveling within China.

“I never thought of traveling overseas, I only want to travel within China or in Beijing, I don’t feel safe to travel abroad.

China is one of the few countries in the world where millions are freely touring domestically, while most countries are discouraging unnecessary travel as they battle coronavirus outbreaks.

China has reported no new locally-transmitted coronavirus infections since August 16, and the country’s culture and tourism ministry last month eased restrictions on tourist sites, allowing them to operate at 75% capacity.

Visitors also are encouraged to obey social distancing rules during their travels.