China's Spring-Festival holiday turned out to be a steroid injection for the domestic box office, which smashed the world's seven-day revenue record for a single territory. Ticket sales exceeded half a billion U.S. dollars in the week to Valentine's Day.

China box office breaks world record?

China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television reports China's box office totaled three-billion yuan in the first six days of the week-long Spring Festival holiday. Then Valentine's Day added another 580 million.

In dollar terms, this took China's seven-day total beyond the prior record set in North America over Christmas with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".

The big moneyspinners this time were Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's latest comedy "Mermaid"; "From Vegas to Macau III", with Hong Kong actors Chow Yun-fat and Andy Lau; and "The Monkey King 2", starring Aaron Kwok and Gong Li.

Meanwhile, tourism revenue during the holiday jumped more than 16% compared with last year, according to the National Tourism Administration. Domestic airlines also report that overseas travel increased, the most popular destinations being Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia.