Travel is the most popular form of leisure for both rich and ordinary Chinese, according to surveys conducted by a private company run by Rubert Hoogewerf, a former British accountant who became well-known for his list of the 100 richest Chinese.

Rich Chinese favor Sanya on Hainan Island in south China, and Australia for domestic and overseas travel destinations, according to the Hurun Report, a polling company named after Mr. Hoogewerf, who is known as Hu Run in China.

The survey was carried out among 589 rich people whose personal assets exceed 10 million yuan (about US$1.23 million) each.

According to the survey, rich Chinese favor luxury brands from Europe, such as Bentley or Rolls-Royce for cars, Vacheron Constantin or Cartier for watches, Hennessy for cognac, or Davidoff for cigars. They pay more attention to fishing and to sampling alcoholic drinks than family affairs.

Via Sina.com, a Chinese Internet portal, the Hurun Report also carried out a separate survey into the lifestyle of the Chinese residents.

The online survey showed that both rich people and ordinary people prefer travel as a form of leisure, but there are differences in their lifestyles: compared to ordinary people, the rich work longer hours, have more business trips, but enjoy fewer holidays.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2006)