From AP’s reporter John Leicester: “Armed with digital cameras and videocams, and still connected to home by their cell phones, Chinese with a pent-up hunger for fresh experiences, cultures and shopping are heading in droves to countries that a few decades back were as inaccessible to most of them as the moon.
Last year, Chinese for the first time overtook Japanese as Asia’s biggest travelers, making 20.2 million visits, China’s tourism administration says. ”
“Europe is bracing for a Chinese surge after a tourism pact that simplifies visa procedures for Chinese tour groups and allows Chinese travel agents to advertise European destinations.
The impact of the agreement, which went into effect on Sept. 1, promises to be dramatic: France, the world’s top tourist destination, expects to attract as many as 1.5 million Chinese next year, from the estimated 300,000 to 400,000 who visited in 2003.
Through travel, Chinese are learning about the world, themselves and their country, and teaching the world a little about China and its march to modernity. ”
