After putting a lot of thought into where to propose marriage to his girlfriend, 26-year-old Wu Ningsha from Changsha, Hunan Province, finally decided to pop the question over a Christmas trip to Hong Kong.

"It would be a big surprise to put the diamond ring on her finger on silent night," said Wu, who anticipates that the city's glittering Christmas decorations will add further romance to the occasion.

This year, Christmas Day falls on Saturday, which will enable more inland Chinese residents, such as Wu, to take a trip over the weekend.

According to a report by the online Chinese travel agency Ctrip.com, Hong Kong has become the most popular destination for mainland visitors over the Christmas period - for its festive atmosphere and sales.

With a boom in tourism, hotel prices in Hong Kong jumped 20 percent over the Christmas period, said Shi Weizhuan, marketing director of the agency's hospitality department.

Wu, who plans to get married next year, said the sales provide an ideal opportunity to purchase luxury goods.

"A gold bracelet and a luxury handbag are on my shopping list for my intended bride," he said.

Christmas sales are not only tempting Chinese tourists to make short jaunts over the holiday to destinations such as Hong Kong, Singapore or Seoul. The more ambitious ones are heading to sales in the United States or Europe.

For Western countries with a mainly Christian population, the day after Christmas is Boxing Day, when many stores start their sales.

"Our packages for a Christmas shopping spree in the US have all sold out," Zhang Wei, general manager of the outbound travel department of China International Travel Service, told China Daily.

The nine-day tour, which goes to Los Angles, includes sightseeing as well the opportunity to visit Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, with its luxury brands, and, at the other end of the scale, to shop at big outlet malls, Zhang said.

Macy's, a US chain of mid-to-high range department stores, is providing discount cards and coupons with Chinese language tips to attract Chinese shoppers, said Yu Wei, manager of US tourism at the Beijing office of China Travel Service.

This year, the three-day New Year holiday runs from Saturday to Monday, while Christmas falls the preceding weekend.

If people can get five days off work between the two weekends, they can take a nine-day Christmas shopping holiday.

(China Daily December 24, 2010)