With Friday marking National Tourism Day in China, tour operators in the country are offering special travel rates to celebrate the occasion. The day is a reminder of the explosive growth of Chinese tourists, whose outbound trips hit a record high in 2016.

Thanks to a growing middle class, Chinese tourists made over 120 million trips to other countries last year.

China has been the top contributor to the global tourism market for years, and the Chinese passport is getting stronger, ranking at 66th on the global passport power index in 2016 -- up from 71st a year earlier.

When it comes to going abroad without the hassle of visa application, the Chinese passport is becoming more valuable and more countries are expected to relax their visa restrictions.