Short trips over long weekends

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Zhang Yue's club provides the Baikal package Zhang Feifei booked. It also offers three-day trips to Tokyo and Okinawa.

The Tokyo package features hot springs, traditional cuisine, Fujiyama, Oshino Hakkai, Yokohama Chinatown, Japanese performance arts and shopping.

Tourists can choose among recommended hotels and restaurants, or even extend their trips if they wish.

The Okinawa trip features Japan's royal cuisine, the local air force base, the aquarium and a duty-free shopping plaza.

The company's standard extended-weekend packages average 6,000 yuan ($910) and don't include airfares. Tourists' selections of restaurants and hotels influence customizable packages' prices.

Brilliant Trip is scouting new routes. They must be within four hours by air, Zhang Yue explains.

"Russia, Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia all make ideal three-day destinations," he says.

Zhang claims his tours enable travelers to enjoy 80 percent of their time on the trip, versus the average 40 percent for conventional packages.