Niyaz, a 64-year-old Moslem from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, held up his telescope to watch the high-rise buildings in Macao as he cruised the strait by the piece of land that will return to the motherland on December 20.

He was on a tour to the city of Zhuhai, accompanied by his daughter, who works in the port city of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province.

"It would be even more amazing to walk on the land of Macao," he said on the ferry cruising around the island as he clearly saw the street scenes and clean and beautiful beaches.

The package tour organized by Zhuhai City has become a most appealing activity for some one million tourists arriving in the port city annually since the late 1980.

"Business was amazingly hot between January and September and we expect it to peak this month," said Pan Xinglian, director of the Zhuhai Tourist Administration.

Wu Cainan, chief executive at the Jiuzhou Tourist Agency, one of the four franchised tourist firms offering loop tours around Macao, said Macao's return to the motherland has brought unprecedented opportunity to the company, as tourists, especially those from the interior areas, have taken the tour round Macao in record numbers.

The 40-minute tour sets off from Jiuzhou Port in Zhuhai, and each ferry carries about 200 passengers, who usually crowd the deck to take snapshots and point out the landmarks of Macao. (Xinhua)