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BEIJING, Feb. 17 -- More and more Chinese families prefer traveling during the Chinese New Year.

"My family paid a short visit to Liechtenstein in Europe, whichplans to issue stamps of traditional Chinese painting. We sent a few letters to stamp-lovers in China," said Zhong Xiangchuan afterhis return.

The Nanjing man said he and his son are stamp collectors, whilehis wife is very much fond of traveling. "We used to argue which world is larger. Nowadays we can almost travel around the world which we could only appreciate in stamps two decades ago." China'srigid control on citizens traveling abroad has begun to ease in the past 15 years.

Mao Lihao and his wife and parents celebrated the traditional Spring Festival in Australia. "I had already been there, but we enjoyed traveling with parents during the vacation," said his wifeCai Han.

Huayuan Travel Agency promoted a special trip to Egypt during the seven-day vacation. A large number of families in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen joined the trip to the pyramids and the NileRiver. "As a tourist guide, I am the only one to be alone, howeverI felt like part of a super big family on road," said Zheng Wen.

It is the first Chinese Spring Festival after eight African nations became permitted tourism destinations for Chinese citizens.According to local travel agencies, trips to those nations were popular among many families.

A growing number of Chinese people choose to travel with extended families during the Spring Festival holidays, which differs from other long vacations. This is also an indication thatChinese hope to keep their deep-rooted family tradition, said Sun Changwei, a senior official with China Youth Travel Service.

Chinese prefer to travel with their parents and parents-in-law,which will provide more business opportunities for transportation,catering, insurance and tourism service, said Fan Xiazhou, a doctorate student in China People's University.

The number of outbound Chinese travelers, which exceeded 24 million last year, tended to travel further this year. Airline companies felt a great potential in the booming market.

"We predict the number of Chinese passengers will increase 15 to 20 percent in the future," said Tim Ramage, general manager of British Airways in China.