A Shanghai couple is among a group of 11 tourists from the Chinese mainland, who set off Sunday for a grand world tour that will see them traverse a dozen countries and reach both poles in a whirlwind 66 days for a whopping 660,000 yuan ($104,216) - and part of the nation's rising affluent demographic with an interest in experiencing myriad cultures abroad.

"Chinese tourists have long been interested in traveling abroad, but now they want more enriched and varied experiences in different countries and continents instead of just settling on one or two places," Yu Lan, director of overseas travel for a torism agency, told. "We designed this trip to meet the growing demand."

She said that 20 people are already on the waiting list for the company's world tour trip next year. Most of them wanted to make this year's world tour, but the 11-person group tour package sold out last year 13 seconds after it went online.

By the end of November last year, more than 1.09 million local residents traveled abroad with the help of Shanghai travel agencies, an increase of 14 percent from the same period in 2010, according to data from Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration. Another 64,334 people further took advantage of the annual weeklong Spring Festival holiday that just passed to head for overseas destinations via the city's two main airports.

"Chinese tourists are less concerned about money these days, especially since the appreciation of the yuan," Yao Shuoye, a press officer for the administration told, "As China continues to open up to the world, it's getting easier for travelers to get visas, giving them more opportunities than previously to trot across the globe."

Still, the overseas travel market for Chinese tourists has payoffs that outweigh the visa hurdles involved, and one that other agencies, too, are responding to for their share. Among them, China International Travel Service has developed package tours to multiple destinations to appease the maturing clientele.