Many Chinese tourists plan to descend on the US during the coming winter holiday period that lasts until February. [Provided to China Daily]

Like Hou and his friends, more Chinese tourists are now traveling to the US after the two nations inked and implemented the group travel agreement in 2008.

According to a report released by the US Department of Commerce in October, more than 802,000 Chinese travelers visited the US in 2010, ranking 11th among top international travelers to the US.

The numbers for this year are expected to reach almost 1.1 million, an increase of 37 percent, and go up to 1.33 million by the end of 2012.

More Chinese tourists are expected to descend on the US during the upcoming winter holiday that lasts until February, and includes Christmas, New Year and Chinese Lunar New Year. "We are willing to contribute more to the American economy," says Hou in a lighter vein.

Travel agencies in China are promoting mega tours, each consisting of up to 1,000 travelers to celebrate the 2012 Chinese New Year in the US, following their successful launch of the super big tour groups in New York and Los Angeles in the past two years. Mega tours, unlike regular tours, sometimes feature special sightseeing arrangements tailor-made for Chinese tourists.

This year, Florida also figures in the mega tour list. The Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation recently announced their arrangements for an upcoming 1,000-strong Chinese group, including visits to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, the America Airlines Arena and Freedom Tower in Miami, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and many more tourist spots.

By the end of 2016, China, according to US Department of Commerce estimates, will provide the largest number of overseas travelers to the US with the number anywhere upwards of 2.19 million. Joining the teeming Chinese tourists on their way to the US are young Chinese students who have gradually become a strong visible part of the whole demographic.

When Chinese schools begin their winter vacations in January, more tours will be made up of middle school students and college sophomores who are expected to visit several top American universities, says Richard Sun, a 39-year-old Chinese American, who has been working in the tourism industry for more than 17 years. "There have been more student tours this year," he says.

"The number of confirmed student groups has almost doubled over last winter," says Sun, director of Youlieguo.com, a tour agency in the US that has branches in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and New York City.

According to Sun, shopping is the premier event for most Chinese students. Many of them are teenagers, who are keen to visit the Woodbury Outlets and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to buy big-ticket brands from Apple, Prada and Gucci.

"Local guides are often shocked by the money spent on luxury brands by young Chinese tourists," he says.

But on the flip side, the surge in inbound travel has helped improve chances for many Chinese students to study in the US, Sun says.

China currently accounts for the largest international student group in the US. Nearly 128,000 students, 18 percent of the total international students who were enrolled in US universities during the 2009-10 academic year, were from China, which is 30 percent more than the previous year, according to the Institute for International Education's Open Doors 2010 report.