Bureaus Exclusive

Tiantai prepares for China's Tourism Day

By Chen Qide (China Daily Shanghai Bureau)
Updated: 2011-05-04 15:45

Tiantai Party Secretary Li Zhijian answers questions at the promotion campaign held in Shanghai. [By Chen Qide/China Daily Shanghai Bureau]

SHANGHAI - Tiantai County in Zhejiang province is launching a nationwide campaign to promote its abundant tourism resources as part of its effort to celebrate China's first tourism day which will fall on May 19.

The county, one of the two venues for the event arranged by the State Tourism Bureau, will hold a ceremony on the afternoon of May 19 to celebrate it. The other venue is the province's Ninghai County.

"It is not easy for the county to obtain the chance to hold the event," said Tiantai Party Secretary Li Zhijian. "The event will be not only a strong impetus to the province's tourism development, but also provide an opportunity for the county to develop its tourism industry."

The State Council approved on March 30 to fix annual May 19 as China's Tourism Day, the day when Xu Xiake, a great tourist in the ancient times, mentioned in the first sentence of his Travel Notes of Tiantai Mountain in the Travels of Xu Xiake.

The promotion campaign is being held in Beijing, Nanjing of Jiangsu province, Shanghai and Hangzhou of Zhejiang province. Tiantai has signed a letter of intent to cooperate with China Travel Agency, Li said.

Tiantai, one of China's Buddhism places, determined annual May 20 as its tourism day last year, China's first county-level tourism day.

The county, full of tourism resources, has been an attraction to tourists from home and abroad. The Tang Dynasty (618-907), for example, had more than famous poets touring Tiantai Mountain with many poems left.

Senior officials from the State Tourism Bureau have investigated Tiantai to check the preparations for the event, said Li.