A growing number of Chinese are choosing to go abroad with their families for holidays as their incomes rise.
According to the exit and entry department of the Ministry of Public Security, more than 2.65 million Chinese went abroad for holidays in 2002, a rise of 36.6 percent over the previous year.
Countries bordering China were the favorite destinations for Chinese tourists. An estimated 1.76 million people, or 66.4 percent of the total, mostly from Yunnan, Jilin, Guangdong, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces which share borders with foreign countries, applied to go abroad.
Moreover, 615,000 travelers, or 15.3 percent of the total, went abroad for family reunions or visiting relatives or friends last year.
(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2003)
