Chinese rush overseas for Spring Festival

Liu Jing has decided not to go home to see his family for Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, this year. Instead, she will celebrate the festival in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, thousands of miles away from her hometown.

"I spend the Spring Festival overseas to seek inner peace," said 24-year-old Liu who just resigned from her job. "I will have New Year's Eve dinner with other backpackers and send my greetings home via the Internet."

Liu Jing is just one of the many Chinese people who have chosen to travel abroad during the traditional family-reunion-type Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10 this year.

The Spring Festival is the most important holiday in China, and the tradition is to return home to have dinner with the whole family on New Year's Eve, the last day of the Chinese lunar calendar.

However, many choose to leave the country to go on holiday, due to the income increase, flexible visa policies and a strong Chinese currency.

Experts said that this trend shows Chinese people are converting from basic consumption such as food and clothing to a higher level, including travel.

"The consumption value of Chinese people has been gradually transforming from survival to comfort and leisure," said Li Xinjian, chair of tourism management department in Beijing International Studies University and director of China Tourism Economics Centre.

There has been a 30 percent increase in bookings for overseas travel during the Spring Festival this year compared to 2011, with Thailand being the most attractive country, said Zhu Lianli, manager of China Youth Travel Service, Guangxi Branch.

The increasing enthusiasm for overseas trips during the Spring Festival is part of a surging market of China's outbound tourism.

Statistics from the China Tourism Academy (CTA) showed that about 82 million citizens went on outbound tours in 2012, up 16.7 percent year on year, taking a total of 98 billion U.S. dollars to their destinations.

"According to tourism economics theory, when a nation's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds 5,000 U.S. dollars, outbound travel will see rapid growth," said Li Yanqin, an assistant professor of management from Minzu University of China.

"The current travel frenzy accords with the theory," said Professor Li, as in 2011, China's per-capita GDP for the first time exceeded 5,000 U.S. dollars and individual disposable income also increased.

Kevin Watkins, who has been visiting China to promote tourism of New Zealand since 2004, told Xinhua that the growing wealth in a larger section of the population gives Chinese people the means and ability to satisfy their travel desires.