Tourist numbers in Lebanon rose an estimated 39 percent in 2009, the year that Beirut was named by The New York Times as the number one place to visit.
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Hamra Street, a major thoroughfare, becomes jammed with traffic in summer as people pour into the country.
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Lebanese lunch time at the Manara Palace Cafe, where diners sit at the edge of the sea in the shade of a lighthouse.
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The Lebanese obsession with the body beautiful makes beach time essential for ensuring that gym-honed bodies are topped off with perfect tans.
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Much of the less-prized — and public — coastline is rocky rather than sandy.
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In a country with few public parks, Lebanon's coast teems with children in the summer, but private beaches are taking up more space.
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Although the sea is increasingly polluted, people still catch fish for fun and for work.
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