The global economic downturn won't stop Chinese people from traveling during the upcoming Lunar New Year, according to a survey released yesterday by New York-based Nielsen.

Nielsen, a leading global information and media company, conducted an online survey in China which found that more than half of respondents on the mainland plan to travel during the Spring Festival, up 10 percent from last year.

Taiwan residents are also motivated to get moving during the holidays, with 46 percent of respondents planning to travel. The majority of respondents in Hong Kong, however, are choosing to holiday at home - only 35 percent said they will travel during this holiday.

"China's Lunar New Year is the most important holiday for Chinese families. Therefore, economic downturn doesn't stop the Chinese from traveling. In fact, it seems that it will be greater than last year when travel was affected by unprecedented snowstorms," said Grace Pan, head of travel and leisure research at the Nielsen Company in China.