Holidays on the wild side

Pristine nature, wildlife, a city lifestyle, affordable luxury and amazing adventures have made South Africa popular with Chinese visitors. [Photo Provided to China Daily]

Picturesque locations

The highlight of many vacation itineraries is the Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. It is a picturesque mix of ancient forests, lakes, mountain hideaways, historic towns and secluded bays and coves.

Speaking about the attractions on offer, Li Mengran, the public relations manager of Beijing Utour International Travel Service Co, a major outbound-travel operator in China, says: "The destination is suitable to tourists of all ages."

Beautiful natural scenery, the culture, the animals and the deserts are all very attractive to the Chinese, she says.

"September to April is the best season to travel, when it is relatively cold in China."

Meanwhile, South Africa has also got the attention of the rich Chinese.

It was one of the top winter destinations for high-end Chinese visitors in 2016, according to HHtravel, a high-end brand of China's biggest online travel agency Ctrip.

Roughly 5 percent of the agency's clients visited South Africa, HHtravel reported.

Visitors enjoyed the warm spring and summer weather there while avoiding the Chinese winter, the agency said.

The high-end visitors also enjoyed watching the lions, black rhinos and leopards at the Kruger National Park, besides the thousands of seals atop rocks in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.