[Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese paid 270,000 visits to the UK last year, up 46 percent over 2014. They spent 586 million pounds ($861 million), up 18 percent, national statistics show.

Chinese tourists to the UK spend roughly 15,000 yuan on average, Ctrip says.

Major Chinese outbound tourism agency Utour reports its bookings to the UK doubled during the first half of this year compared with the same period of 2015.

"A growing section of visitors have paid multiple visits," Utour's publicity manager Li Mengran says.

They've seen Big Ben and Buckingham.

Been there. Done that.

They're ready to buck the trend to seek another kind of changing of the guard in terms of UK travel.

They're coming back for more－to go farther and further.

Utour will offer study packages and road trips in the future, Li says.

Ctrip also reports increased bookings during 2016's first five months.