Tung views the tide on river date with Li Peng

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who is taking a long-overdue holiday with his wife, watched the autumn tide on the Qiantang river in Zhejiang province along with former premier Li Peng.

The chief executive and Mr Li were greeted by cheers from the crowd when they appeared at a tide-watching platform on the river bank, reports said.

Mr Tung then travelled south to Shenzhen, where he met vice-president Zeng Qinghong, the Chief Executive's Office said last night.

Veteran China-watcher Johnny Lau Yui-shiu said Mr Tung's preference for the mainland as the destination for his break was consistent with his patriotic upbringing. The chief executive's last holiday was an overnight trip to Shanghai in January for the opening of a museum dedicated to his father, the late shipping magnate Tung Chao-yung. He spent four days on another holiday in Anhui and Zhejiang in May 2001.

Mr Tung met Zhejaing party secretary Xi Jinping and the province's Deputy Governor, Chen Jiayuan, shortly after arriving in the provincial capital, Hangzhou, on Saturday. The chief executive is to make a brief return to official duties today for a lunch meeting with visiting German President Johannes Rau before flying to Shanghai in the afternoon for a three-day holiday during which he may meet the mayor, Han Zheng.

A spokeswoman for the Chief Executive's Office said Mr Tung travelled with his family to Hangzhou during his holiday, but did not reveal his schedule in detail.