National day sails overseas

Chinese shoppers in the Akihabara electronics shopping district in Tokyo on Friday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Most are shopping for cheaper clothes, bags and accessories, while experiencing local culture.

Ctrip's hottest sellers were six-day group trips to Japan's Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone and Tokyo, and four-day trips to South Korea's Jeju Island.

Air-ticket sales to Phuket and Bali islands, and Mauritius, soared this year thanks to eased visa procedures and favorable exchange rates for the yuan against destination currencies, says Sun Guohui, an officer with travel website Qunar.com's international flight business.

Long-distance trips to Europe and the United States were also extremely popular.

Many Chinese took three days off to carve out a 12-day vacation this year, thanks to the narrow gap between the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, says Jiang Yiyi, director of the China Tourism Academy-affiliated International Tourism Development Institute.

"That contributed to the long-distance tourism market's growth in North America and Europe," she says.

The Chinese passport's unbridling and increasing horsepower also propelled travel farther across the globe.

Chinese now get visa-free access to roughly 50 countries and regions. Many others have relaxed visa policies for Chinese.

"Now, a college student in Beijing with a credit card can qualify to apply for a Japan visa," Jiang says.

South Korea removed its visa-application fees and opened a new visa center in Guangzhou in September. The country extended its visa-fee exemption for Chinese from July 6 to Oct 31 and has granted 15-day visa-free stays for Chinese group travelers headed next to Japan.

The policy only applies when all travel-group members visit simultaneously.

The United States was the top long-distance destination for individual travelers. That's buoyed by a 10-year multiple-entry visa effective from the end of 2014.

The US is expected to see a continuing rise in visitors after the holiday because of President Xi Jinping's September visit, Yan explains.

China and the US declared during Xi's visit aspirations to exceed 5 million tourists visiting the two countries next year through tourism promotions.

Many Chinese rushed to Europe before Schengen visas required biometric data on Oct 12, Ctrip says.

About 526 million travelers made trips within the Chinese mainland over the National Day Golden Week, 10.7 percent more than last year, the China National Tourism Administration reports.