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Southeast Asia is becoming one of the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists, stimulating the economies of China's neighbors and enhancing mutual understanding between peoples. "It is quite comfortable to spend the three-day holiday in a much warmer country where you can listen to the sounding of the New Year bell," said Zhang Weiliang, who registered for the Thai tour during the New Year. Zhang has been to Thailand three times, impressed by its unique tropical climate and spicy food. Due to the similar rice culture and the Buddhist religion, Southeast Asian countries have an advantage over other destinations for Chinese. Chinese tourists to Vietnam and Malaysia reached 580,000 and 450,000 respectively last year and are expected to surpass 700,000 and 900,000 respectively this year, partly thanks to the frequent Southeast Asian promotion campaigns in big Chinese cities. In the global tourism slowdown, the Chinese market performed well, said Wang Shanshan, an official with the Malaysian culture and tourism section. Compared with other regions, the low cost of Southeast Asian holidays was very attractive for Chinese tourists, especially those who are going abroad for the first time, said Zhang Zhiguang of China Travel Service. Airlines play a key role in increasing Chinese tourists to Southeast Asian countries. Air China, China Eastern and China Southern have direct flights to those countries, while Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Vietnam Airlines all have representative offices in China. "We were always worried about the food when my wife and I traveled to Western countries. Even in the Chinese restaurants, every dish seems to have cheese in it. While in Southeast Asian countries, we can easily find fried vegetables, dumplings and rice," said Wang Zhenmin, a 60-year-old professor at Renmin University of China. Chinese people have no language barriers in Singapore, said Chew Tiong Heng, an official with Singapore Tourism Board China. Southeast Asian people were willing to take Chinese yuan, which was an indication of China's prosperous economy and the number of tourists bound for Southeast Asian countries, said Zhou Yangyuan, of the Thai Tourism Authority. China is the biggest tourist source for Vietnam and second biggest for Singapore.