Westward bound

Two Chinese tourists feed seagulls in front of Capitol Hill in Washington DC.[Photo provided to China Daily]

With growing incomes and more vacation time, an increasing number of Chinese travelers are choosing to visit the US and Europe.

Traveling abroad has become a regular part of Zheng Wei's schedule every year.

Zheng, 36, who works at a financial company in Beijing, recently took a trip to Orlando, New York, Washington, Niagara Falls and Boston.

"I was attracted by the US landscape sceneries, which are very different from China's, and clothes, shoes and healthcare products there were much cheaper, with assured quality," Zheng says.

Zheng is just one of a growing number of Chinese who are choosing the US as a tourism destination. He's also visited Munich, Milan, Florence and other European cities.

There has been a significant increase in the number of Chinese tourists traveling to the US in recent years, while the European tourism market has maintained relatively slower growth. Trips to Europe, however, remain the most common booking at large travel agencies, Diao Shuang, general manager of the China CYTS Tours Holding Co's European department, told the Beijing News.

More than 1.8 million Chinese tourists visited the US last year, a threefold increase compared to five years ago, according to the US Department of Commerce.

The tourism market capacity of Europe and the US is about the same, according to Diao. The rising income and increasing number of Chinese workers receiving paid annual leave are allowing more people from the mainland to travel abroad.