It started as a trickle a decade ago and is turning out to be a flood as China has steadily emerged as a new destination for Indians who are flocking to Chinese cities in droves, lured by budget tours and low cost shopping attractions.
Over six lakhs Indians visited China last year taking advantage of the affordable group tour packages offered by Chinese tour groups, a tour operator said.
"Name any top Chinese city, you can find Indian tour groups visiting places like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xian," Yaofeng Liang, General Manager of the Beijing Nimbus International Service Company Ltd, told PTI here highlighting the growing trend in the communist giant's tourism sector.
It appears that the 'Mysterious China' campaign unleashed by Chinese tour operators is paying off better dividends while the 'Incredible India' campaign in China is struggling to shore up the numbers.
Barely 1.5 lakh Chinese visited India 2012, according to the official figures though it is about 9.5 per cent higher than the previous year. Besides tourists, large number of the visiting groups from India are comprised of businessmen.
Nevertheless, China is emerging as an important destination for India's retired as well as wealthy who are interested in shopping at some of famous malls besides visiting the tourist hot-spots.
Walk into some of the Beijing shopping malls for foreigners like Silk Market and Yashow Market one can come across the Indian groups animatedly bargaining for discounts with canny Chinese shop keepers to buy cheaper Chinese goods like iPads, touch phones, watches, winter ware, suits etc.
So much so that the Chinese shopkeepers who cater to droves of groups from all over the world everyday are learning smattering of Hindi to greet Indians with a 'Namaste'.
"My son and daughters are settled well back home. We thought it is time to have glimpses of China," Meenakshisundaram, a retired government employee from Madurai said while shopping busily with his wife at Silk Market.
He came with a 40 member group which toured cities including Hong Kong, Beijing, Xian and Shanghai.
The trip costs about Rs 1 lakh per person which included travel, stay and food at Indian restaurants, which are mushrooming all over China.
