Xinhua, China
www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-19 13:42:47 Print
SINGAPORE, June 19 (Xinhua) — The most popular souvenirs for those intending to visit China are Chinese tea, arts and craft and clothing, according to a survey released here on Thursday.
Of the 3,140 respondents from across the Asia-Pacific region who said they were likely to visit China during or after the August Olympic Games, one-third said that Chinese tea would be the souvenir they were most likely to buy, said the survey on the Beijing Olympics and travel to China conducted by Visa, an international retail electronic payments network.
The second most popular purchase was Chinese arts and craft, followed by clothing.
Among those surveyed, women said they are more likely to buy Chinese silk (26 percent of women as opposed to 19 percent of men). Men are more likely to buy electronic products (20 percent of them as opposed to 15 percent of women).
The survey also found that younger travelers (those aged between 18 to 24 years) are more interested than older travelers in buying both traditional and modern memorabilia of China with purchases of antiques and electronics.
Those who have visited China before say they are more likely to buy local food products (28 percent as opposed to 18 percent who have never visited) and Olympic Games souvenirs (17 percent as opposed to 11 percent).
First-time visitors to China are more likely than repeat visitors to spend their money on clothing (30 percent as opposed to 20 percent), antiques (23 percent as opposed to 13 percent) and electronic products (23 percent as opposed to six percent).
Fifty percent of all those who had not yet traveled to China said they expected electronic payment cards to be generally accepted at some but not all merchants in China, said Visa.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia