Car owners take to open road for holidays

cctv.com 01-29-2004 09:56

More and more people are becoming keen on the idea of spending their holidays out and about. But signing up for a tour means being bundled onto a crowded coach and herded around various over-visited scenic spots. And the idea of hauling a backpack over hill and dale rarely appeals to any but the young and adventurous. For China's emerging upper-middle class, private cars mean dream destinations are within reach.

During the Spring Festival, the number of tourists driving private cars amounted to thirty percent of the total figure of those who did not stay at home for the holidays. According to statistics, up to 60 percent of tourists from Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai drove their own private cars to holiday destinations.

Traditional hot spots at this time of year include Southwest China's Guilin city and China's answer to Hawaii - the Pacific island of Hainan.

But with their own wheels and the open road before them, many car owners gave the more conventional hot spots a miss and explored less-visited areas.

Some holidaymakers from the northernmost Chinese province of Heilongjiang even drove as far as the steaming tropical island of Hainan. The local government of Hainan has organized activities such as "island tours" to develop this new trend.

Editor:Zhang  Source:CCTV.com