Lack of flexibility

Although she enjoyed her stay in Europe, Wu had some complaints, mainly about the problems involved in obtaining visas.

"The northern European countries, especially Finland, deal with visa applications in an unfriendly way, in my opinion," she says.

The itinerary must be planned beforehand and potential tourists have to buy their air tickets before submitting their visa applications.

"It means that if I, as a single person, want to change my travel plans during my stay, I can't."

Moreover, the duration of the visa is exactly the same as the period indicated on the air ticket. "This allows little flexibility for travelers," Wu says.

For Han's agency, the most popular product during the Spring Festival was a tour that took the visitors to five countries in four days - France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

"The price effect is still noticeable when it comes to outbound tourism from the Chinese market," she says.

Tian Dong, who has been visiting France, says a simplified visa application process would make the country a more attractive destination, but she has safety concerns because Chinese tourists have become targets for crime in France.

"We were excited to learn that it will be much easier for us to apply for a French visa," she says. "That will certainly make the country more attractive to us.

"But safety is still a concern. I have to be always on alert when I travel in the country. It would be good if the local authorities could do more to address the safety issue."

The French tourist industry has been attempting to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and France, and as part of the Spring Festival celebrations, many tourist hotspots organized special events such as traditional dragon and lion dances.

A new trend

An increasing number of Chinese see overseas travel as a fashionable way to celebrate Spring Festival, says Kevin Shao of Omega Travel, one of the Britain's leading travel agencies.

"Compared with last year, the number of Chinese visitors rose by 30 percent during Spring Festival," Shao says, adding that the peak time is the first week of the new lunar year.

Travel as a family or as several families in a group has been an important new trend this year. Groups such as this prefer to design their itineraries and choose the hotels themselves, rather than use an agency to do it, he says, adding that Chinese visitors usually have some knowledge of the UK or have done a lot of homework before traveling.

Having gained a taste for British culture via TV, movies and books, Chinese tourists are mainly interested in museums, palaces, castles and the old universities. London, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, York and Edinburgh are the most popular destinations, industry insiders says.

Beth McKillop, deputy director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, says: "We monitor which collections the Chinese visitors view during their visit as part of a 'rest of the world' category, which also includes Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Africa. The top four V&A collections visited by this group are currently sculpture, fashion and textiles, medieval and Renaissance, and jewelry."

In 1991, the V&A became the first European museum to feature captions in English and Chinese, which were installed in the T. T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art. The museum also has an active Chinese community program with a particular focus on the Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn festivals.

Because British TV dramas such as Downton Abbey and Sherlock, and the Harry Potter movies and books, have captured the imaginations of many people in China, many tourists want to visit the locations or studios when they visit the UK, says Chen Wei, who has worked as a travel guide in Britain for 10 years.

Educated, aspiring Chinese viewers find these dramas compelling viewing and believe they provide insights into the British way of life, he says.

Tom Jenkins, executive director of the European Tour Operators Association, says: "Chinese visitors appear to be exceptionally well behaved and increasingly sophisticated in their appreciation of Western culture."

Last year, insensitive behavior by a few Chinese tourists, such as the 15-year-old who defaced a sculpture in the ancient temple at Luxor in Egypt, made headlines around the world, and led to Chinese authorities drawing up a guide to help travelers prepare for, and respect, other cultures.