BEIJING, Feb. 21 -- China's box office sales hit a record high with the daily earnings of 356 million yuan (57 million U.S. dollars) on Thursday, the first day of Spring Festival.

According to a report in The Beijing News on Saturday, the figure is a 43.6 percent up on last year and a new daily record.

Eight films screened on Thursday attracted audiences of over 9 million.

Even on Wednesday evening, traditionally devoted to family reunions, banquets at home and a grand TV gala, Chinese moviegoers still spent 21 million yuan in cinemas.

Costume action movie "Dragon Blade" starring Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody leads the box office charts with 32.6 percent of the total income. The Chinese Kungfu star is still highly bankable with Chinese audiences.

It was followed by fantasy adventure "Zhongkui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal" and Chow Yun-Fat's family comedy "The Man from Macao II."

The newspaper quoted Rao Shuguang, secretary general of China Film Association, as saying that the Spring Festival boom may partly due to the increased number of screens, now over 24,900.