The first group of package tourists from China authorised to visit Britain took a whirlwind tour around London described by one happy visitor as a "dream come true", a report said on Tuesday.

The group took a catamaran cruise up the River Thames and a trip on the London Eye giant wheel before their coach took them via Buckingham Palace to a Chinese restaurant.

Qui Qui Shen, an English teacher from Shanghai, told The Independent newspaper her first trip to Britain was "a dream come true".

"Rich people are more common in China nowadays, but most people there are too busy to travel," she added.

The tourists also headed for the Madame Tussauds waxworks museum to snap pictures alongside models of footballer David Beckham with his ex-Spice Girl wife Victoria and Hollywood's glamour couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Beijing student Lin Li, who won her trip in a television competition, said she was enjoying the cuisine so far. "Oh yes. I had a lovely hamburger on the aeroplane," she insisted.

The group were to head for the university town of Oxford on Tuesday, before hitting the nearby Bicester Village retail park.

Last month China gave the green light for its citizens to go on organised tours to Britain. Until then only business people and students had been authorised to make the trip.

A similar agreement covering most European countries came into effect in September last year, but Britain was not a signatory.

Tourism professionals believe China, with a population of 1.3-billion and a rapidly expanding and affluent middle class, offers huge potential as a source of visitors.