He tried again last April, after Shanghai introduced simplified procedures of issuing passport. The oxblood-red Chinese passport arrived in the mail just 10 days later. The 45-year-old hotel manager celebrated by taking his first trip overseas - a week in Thailand.

"Getting a passport used to be the biggest obstacle for Chinese people to travel overseas," Hua said. "Not anymore."

Chinese are now traveling abroad in record numbers, aided by rising incomes and the growing opening-up drive of the country to the outside world.

The chinese have emerged as one of the fastest-growing groups of international tourists, a rare bright spot in a global tourism industry hurt by an economic slowdown and fears of terrorism in other regions.

A rising number of countries in Europe and Asia are aggressively courting Chinese tourists with discount fares and liberal visa rules, though the United States has been slow to join.

"Given the turbulent times we're facing, a country like China and its double-digit growth is quite attractive," said John Koldowski, managing director of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, a Bangkok-based industry research group.

A record 12.3 million Chinese went abroad between January and September, about 25 percent more than the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security, which issues passports.

That's an enormous change for a country that allowed just 210,000 people to go overseas during the entire first three decades after the People's Re-public of China was founded in 1949. In those days, all but a few Chinese could afford foreign travel anyway.

After china began opening to the world in the late 1970s, the first wave of overseas travelers were mostly students or officials. Now, most Chinese go abroad for sightseeing, experts say. That number got a big boost five years ago when the government allowed group tours overseas.

Dou jing, a 26-year-old agent at the travel agency Concordia International in Shanghai, boasts that she has visited 10 countries, including the United States, Germany and Japan.

"Overseas travel used to be a luxury for the very few," she said. "But it has become part of the lifestyle of many ordinary Chinese people."

Travel agents say the United States is the most sought-after destination, despite tough visa requirements. Some 400,000 Chinese visited there in 2000, most as tourists, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

"If America were to open its doors, the numbers of Chinese tourists would triple, quadruple - particularly to popular destinations like Hawaii and Las Vegas," said Xu Chunlin, a travel agent at China Eastern Airlines.

Resorts are redecorating to suit Chinese tastes, he said. Some are discarding white furnishings - the traditional color of mourning in China.

Discount package tours are now popular to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, which in 1997 became the first country to allow in Chinese tour groups.

(eastday.com December 26, 2002)