Chinese visitors arrive at the South Korean city of Incheon during a public holiday. [Photo/VCG]

Average family spending for Ctrip's family group packages stood at 5,000 yuan ($759) for the first five months of 2016. That's roughly 1,000 yuan more than adults-only excursions.

Agencies advise that parents purchase travel insurance, since kids are prone to mishaps.

Favorite destinations to take children include natural places with mountains and rivers, the report says.

More families are expected to travel as summer vacation begins, it explains.

Particularly popular is Ctrip's eight-day Taiwan tour, where children can stay overnight at a local aquarium.

Also well-received is a six-day trip to Japan's Osaka and Kyoto that teaches children how to survive catastrophes at a disaster-prevention center, visit a cutting-edge sewage-treatment facility and see the country's environmental-protection technology.

Other popular tours feature real-life roleplaying the video game Counter Strike, island explorations and fencing practice, Ctrip says.

Utour offers visits to European aerospace centers, Spanish chocolate factories and Russian animal museums.

"All these tours are fun and educational," Li explains.

Bookings are surging.

Nian plans to take his son to the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Hulun Buir in August.

"I want him to ride horses and experience the prairie," he says.

It seems to him a great way－and place－to bond, he believes.

Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn