Travelers are often divided into tribes in China. There is the beibao zu, backpack tribe, the genban zu, latest-destinations trend lemmings, the ziyouxing zu, the FIT tribe and the Gucci zu, the sybaritic shopping group after the best luxury goods money can buy.

A Chinese tour group makes a triumphant exit from the British Museum in London

In Singapore, Sydney, Seattle - stop at any traffic junction and wait for the lights to change and the dulcet tones of Chinese conversation filtering through the noise of traffic are very likely to be mainland accented.

In the next 10 years, the decade of the Chinese traveler will have arrived and the third working language worldwide may well be Chinese, if savvy operators know which side their bread is to be lavishly buttered. The rise of the yuan as a world currency will also be an important push.

Chinese travelers eager to see the world are visiting both the traditional destinations and countries off the beaten tourist track

For Chinese who love to travel, the choices are limitless and restricted only by visa requirements and the number of holidays they can afford to take off work.

More and more have already completed the de rigueur 14-day America east to west coast tour, the 8-country European odyssey, the Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne route and the Vancouver to Toronto trek.

Like the rest of the well-traveled elite of the world, they may opt for lifestyle travel - holidays that offer them retreat, respite and refreshment before they go right back to the money-making machinery.

Destinations off the beaten track will appeal more and more - an island-hopping cruise in Fiji, perhaps, a second honeymoon on the beaches of Boracay, a few days of pampering at the spas in hiangmai, diving off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia's Gold Coast or game fishing in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.

More and more, too, will be visiting wine countries in Australia's Margaret River, Barossa and Yarra. They will sample vineyard cuisine in Chile, or South Africa, or France and take cooking lessons in a chalet in Tuscany and or a castle in Scotland.

The world's best resort brands will become familiar in the Chinese market, with many already shifting their focus towards Asia's largest group of consumers.

The Middle Kingdom used to look inwards, but now its sons and daughters are making up for lost time - and the world better be prepared.

Chinese travelers eager to see the world are visiting both the traditional destinations and countries off the beaten tourist track