Survey: New rich developing taste for tourism

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For China's emerging middle-class, reading is the second-most popular leisure activity.

Tea tasting and driving remain steady in third and fourth and spending time with one's family remains in fifth place.

There is little difference between the top five preferred leisure pursuits among high-net-worth individuals in the first-, second-and third-tier cities.

However, spas and wine tasting are much more popular among this group in the first-tier cities.

On the other hand, food safety fears, among other factors, have prompted the nation's wealthy to focus an increasing amount of their attention on improving their health, particularly through physical exercise.

In first-tier cities, the wealthy prefer yoga, tennis and horse-riding, while in second- and third-tier cities, they are more interested in hiking and skiing.

In 2012, swimming surpassed golf as the preferred sport among wealthy Chinese individuals and remains the most popular this year.

Golf, hiking, yoga and badminton make up the remaining top five preferred sports.

Yoga is the first choice for women, 48 percent of whom selected it, whereas the figure is a mere 9 percent among men.

Horse-riding is up from 7 percent last year to 15 percent this year and ranks sixth.

Chinese entrepreneurs enjoy swimming because it fits in well with their irregular lifestyle, according to a survey.

Most Chinese entrepreneurs, unlike their Western counterparts live in luxury compounds that usually have a clubhouse and swimming pool, according to the report.

For wealthy Chinese in first-, second- and third-tier cities, the Internet is the most popular source of information.

Word of mouth is also important, with 51 percent of respondents listing it as a preferred information source.

Some 41 percent of wealthy individuals in first-tier cities get their information from magazines, which are comparatively more popular in second-and third-tier cities, with 45 percent.

Women noticeably prefer the Internet and magazines compared to men, who prefer newspapers, according to the survey.

Wealthy Chinese use the Internet 6.2 days per week on average and use other media approximately 3 to 4 days per week.

Some 98 percent browse the Internet and 91 percent read magazines.

Micro-blogging is most popular among women and the younger generation.

About 64 percent of wealthy Chinese women use micro-blogging every day and among high-net-worth individuals under 30, the figure is 66 percent.

The number of wealthy individuals who use their phones to e-mail is up to 59 percent.

Women and young wealthy frequently use their phones to chat with friends, 36 percent and 38 percent, respectively, and are using chat tools such as Wechat and Whatsapp to do so.

This story is provided by ILTM