The Xingguang Night Market bustles with activity in Jinghong, Yunnan province, on Tuesday. LIANG ZHIQIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY 

While China's northern and southern attractions are in a tight contest to lure travelers during the approaching Spring Festival holiday that runs from Feb 10 to Feb 17, some overseas destinations have also joined the "traveling carnival" by issuing visa-friendly policies and showing goodwill gestures.

随着春节假期（2月10日至2月17日）临近，中国南北方旅游胜地争相吸引游客，一些海外旅游地也通过优化签证政策和对中国游客的友好姿态加入了这场“旅游狂欢”。

Of the overseas destinations, Singapore and Thailand may be the biggest winners after China recently announced the mutual exemption of visas with these two countries.

海外旅游地中，新加坡和泰国可能是最大的赢家，因为中国刚刚宣布与这两国互免签证。

Chinese people holding ordinary passports can stay up to 30 days without a visa in Singapore for tourism, family visits and business trips, and the mutual visa-free policies with Singapore will come into effect from Feb 9 — the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The policy with Thailand will take effect from March 1, following a temporary visa-free arrangement currently in effect.

持有普通护照去新加坡从事旅游、探亲、商务的中国公民将能免签在新加坡停留30天。中国与新加坡互免签证的政策将从2月9日（除夕）起生效。中国与泰国互免签证的政策将从3月1日起生效，目前实行的是临时免签政策。

"It's good news and it will be more convenient for us to travel to these Southeast Asian countries in the future. I've booked a four-day trip to Singapore this Spring Festival holiday with my family members and we will depart on Feb 13 — the fourth day of the holiday — after we finish gatherings with relatives," said Liu Lei, a 32-year-old from Huangshan, Anhui province.

来自安徽黄山的32岁的刘蕾（音译）表示：“这是好消息，我们以后去这些东南亚国家旅游会更方便。我已经预订了新加坡四日游，春节假期和我的家人一起去，我们将在2月13日出发——春节假期的第四天——和亲戚聚完再去。”

"I did some research online and found Singapore will organize some celebration events during the Chinese Spring Festival holiday like music shows, lantern shows and flower shows. I can't wait to experience the views and cultural atmosphere there," she added.

她说：“我在网上做了些功课，发现新加坡会在春节期间组织一些庆祝活动，比如音乐会、灯展、花展。我迫不及待地想去体验那里的景观和文化氛围了。”

Fan Dongxiao, director of travel portal Tuniu's short-distance overseas travel department, said that Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are popular among Chinese travelers and China's mutually friendly visa policies with these destinations will boost outbound tourism. She said that tour products linking these destinations, like five-day tours to Singapore and Malaysia for the Spring Festival holiday, are hot items on the platform.

途牛旅游门户网站出境短线产品负责人范东晓表示，新加坡、泰国和马来西亚很受中国游客的欢迎，中国与这些旅游地互免签证将能推动出境游的发展。她说去往这些目的地的旅游产品，比如新加坡、马来西亚春节五日游，在平台上很抢手。

Some European countries are also rising as popular choices for Chinese travelers thanks to the increasing numbers of flights, said travel agencies.

旅行社称，得益于航班数量的增加，一些欧洲国家也成为了中国游客的热门选择。

According to travel portal Qunar, hotel bookings to Russia, Spain, Italy and France for the holiday have seen continuous growth on the platform, and hotel bookings for overseas destinations peaked around Jan 10, while flight bookings peaked at the end of January.

旅游门户网站去哪儿的数据显示，俄罗斯、西班牙、意大利、法国等度假地1月10日前后在该平台上的酒店预定量持续增长，机票预定量在1月底达到顶峰。

North European destinations with beautiful snow views and the aurora borealis including Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland are seeing skyrocketing popularity on Qunar because of people's growing passion for winter tourism.

由于人们对冬季旅游的热情日渐高涨，拥有美丽雪景和极光的挪威、芬兰、丹麦和冰岛等北欧度假地在去哪儿平台上的热度飙升。

According to Qunar, searches for distinctive hotels in North European destinations — for example, cabins with dome-like sunroofs in cedar forests — have doubled on the platform as of Jan 22 compared with the previous month, as travelers may have a better experience of appreciating the aurora borealis in these rooms.

去哪儿平台数据显示，截至1月22日，北欧旅游目的地的特色酒店——比如雪松林中拥有玻璃穹顶的小屋——在平台上的搜索量环比增长2倍，因为游客在这种小屋里观赏极光，体验会更棒。

The travel portal said that as of Tuesday, some popular domestic destinations such as Beijing and Shanghai have also seen hotel bookings more than triple year-on-year, and about 70 percent of people who booked tour products on the platform will start their trips from Feb 11 — the second day of the holiday.

去哪儿网称，截至1月30日，北京、上海等国内热门目的地的酒店预订量同比增长3倍以上，在平台上预定了旅游产品的人有70%将在2月11日（春节假期的第二天）开启旅程。

Train and flight tickets to these popular destinations sold out within seconds after becoming available to travelers. Economy class flights from Beijing to Xishuangbanna and Shanghai to Dali — two popular destinations in Yunnan province on Feb 8 — a day before New Year's Eve, were already sold out, Qunar said.

去哪儿网称，去往热门目的地的火车票和机票一开票就秒光，2月8日北京飞西双版纳、上海飞大理的经济舱机票已售罄。西双版纳和大理是云南的两个热门旅游目的地。

Figures from online travel agency Trip.com Group show bookings for the holiday to Sanya have doubled year-on-year as of mid-January. Bookings to Kunming, with its year-round spring weather, have seen a sixfold surge as of mid-January compared with the previous year, according to the group.

在线旅行社携程集团的数据显示，截至1月中旬，前往三亚度假的预定数量同比翻番，前往四季如春的昆明度假的预定数量同比增长6倍。