Some Chinese visitors take a special interest in exploring Ivy League universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University in Boston, Princeton University in New Jersey and Yale University in Connecticut.[Photo/IC]

Against the impression that Chinese tourists are mainly "shoppers", scenic spots with civic interest or stunning scenery is taking more of their travelling routes.

"The total amount of sales by Chinese shoppers has dropped by almost one third in the first quarter of 2016," said Rich Sun, COO and Board Secretary of L&L Tour, one of the largest Chinese travel agency in New York.

Chinese tourists now choose to spend more time in the spots like Washington Square, enjoying some coffee, or take a walk around famous campus, like Columbia University, New York University, etc..

Some Chinese visitors take a special interest in exploring Ivy League universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University in Boston, Princeton University in New Jersey and Yale University in Connecticut.

"They are more interested in outdoor activities, such as adventures. They are more interested in the natural scenes, like the national parks. They are more interested in the secondary to tertiary cities of United States, not only New York, not only Los Angeles or Las Vegas," Sun told Xinhua, "They want to explore more of American culture."

"And also, another trend from the Chinese tourists coming to the US is that they are more interested in staying here longer to have an exploration of that local community in depth, instead of just superficial stay for one night or for a couple of days," added Sun.

2016 marks the US-China Tourism Year. Governments from both sides have launched a series of measures to boost tourism. Now, China is the fourth-largest international source of visitors to the New York City, after the Great Britain, Canada, and Brazil.

The Big Apple is expecting 921,000 tourists from China 2016, up 8 percent from the preliminary estimate in 2015, according to the prediction made by NYC & Company, New York City's official marketing, tourism and partnership organization.