Traditional holidays for a modern China

This year will be the first time that games analyst Liu Yang and his extended family have spent Spring Festival overseas.

"I suggested to my parents and parents-in-law that we could celebrate a different Spring Festival in another country and they said 'yes'," said Liu, a native of Baoji in Northwest China's Shaanxi province who now lives in Beijing.

The family will travel to a "warm island to spend some quality time together", without the packed sightseeing schedule and crazed shopping trips usually associated with the festivities, the 33-year-old said.

Although the older members of the family have never traveled outside China before, Liu isn't concerned about the language barrier or visa applications.

"I travel frequently, and I've experienced the efforts other countries make to help Chinese visitors feel very welcome," he said.

Spring Festival, also known as Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China. It's a time when people across the country travel to their hometowns and spend quality time with their immediate and extended families and close friends. Wives usually accompany their husband to his family home.

However, as standards of living and incomes rise in China, a growing number of families, such as Liu's, are opting to celebrate the new year by traveling, especially to foreign destinations.

According to a report released by the online travel agency Ctrip in January, nearly 80 percent of Chinese would like to travel during the Spring Festival holiday, which lasts from Feb 18 to 24 this year.