Romance on the road on Valentine's Day

An increasing number of young Chinese couples travel outside of the mainland on Valentine's Day, spending an average of 12,000 yuan. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Forget flowers. Don't do dinner. Take a trip.

Lovers who love to travel are increasingly traveling on Valentine's Day.

About a quarter of young Chinese couples hit the road during the holiday, reports China's largest online travel agency, Ctrip. Many took paid vacations from Feb 10-14.

Three times as many people used the date to travel to marry or snap wedding photos this year compared with 2016, the report says.

Ctrip sold more than 10,000 honeymoon packages during the period.

Most trips were within China or to nearby nations. Average spending stood at 6,000 yuan ($870).

About 55 percent of couples traveled outside of the mainland, spending an average of 12,000 yuan.

The most expensive package was 200,000 yuan to Voavah in the Maldives, Ctrip says.

Men paid for over 60 percent of the orders. And 90 percent of couples stayed in five-star hotels.

Hainan province's Sanya, Fujian province's Xiamen, Yunnan province's Lijiang and Sichuan province's Jiuzhaigou Valley were top choices. They're romantic destinations with warm weather and verdant surroundings.

The leading outbound getaways were Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

Yunnan's Dali, Fiji's Denarau Island and Athens were the top three wedding-photo sites. Greece, Las Vegas and Bali were the most popular wedding destinations, respectively.

Couples born in the 1990s accounted for 31 percent of travelers around Valentine's Day, while 40 percent were born in the '70 and '80s.

Many middle-aged Chinese took the opportunity to rekindle their affection away from home.

Children paid for some of their trips.

Ctrip also recommends 10 destination activities for popping the question.

They include viewing Australia's heart-shaped reef from a helicopter; picnicking under Finland's aurora borealis; viewing Cappadocia's sunset from a hot air balloon; hunting in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve; and enjoying a private box seat in Vienna's Wiener Riesenrad.