| China's Tourism Day May 19th |
The logo includes 2 parts. The sign comes from the Chinese traditional seal
style (called Yin-jian)and the old inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of
the Shang Dynasty (called Jia-gu-wen), the charactor of "旅" that means
"travel". The written part underneath includes the "Li-shu"calligraphy-style
characters and English words, 中国 (China) 旅游(Tourism) 日 (Day).
In China, every activity needs a slogan, and China Tourism Day has one,
too: "爱旅游，爱生活" which means "Loving Travel and Loving Life.
style (called Yin-jian)and the old inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of
the Shang Dynasty (called Jia-gu-wen), the charactor of "旅" that means
"travel". The written part underneath includes the "Li-shu"calligraphy-style
characters and English words, 中国 (China) 旅游(Tourism) 日 (Day).
In China, every activity needs a slogan, and China Tourism Day has one,
too: "爱旅游，爱生活" which means "Loving Travel and Loving Life.
On May 19th, 2011, the People's Republic of China held its first national "Tourism Day".
The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA; Guójiā lǚyóu Jú, 国家旅游局) decided to
designate every May 19th, starting from 2011, as a commemorative non-official holiday to celebrate
the tourism industry and recognize its importance. The date was chosen to honor Xu Xia-ke, great
17th-Century traveller and writer.
Historians estimate that it was on the equivalent of May 19th, 1613 (in the late Ming Dynasty) that
he began to write his magnum-opus, of China, "Travels of Xu Xia-ke", regarded as the first real
"travel diary" of China. This massive tome described 34 years of Xu's travel experiences, and has
become evaluated the greatest geographical and travel work in Chinese history (one of the greatest in
the world), with many Chinese calling Xu the greatest tourist in their history.
The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA; Guójiā lǚyóu Jú, 国家旅游局) decided to
designate every May 19th, starting from 2011, as a commemorative non-official holiday to celebrate
the tourism industry and recognize its importance. The date was chosen to honor Xu Xia-ke, great
17th-Century traveller and writer.
Historians estimate that it was on the equivalent of May 19th, 1613 (in the late Ming Dynasty) that
he began to write his magnum-opus, of China, "Travels of Xu Xia-ke", regarded as the first real
"travel diary" of China. This massive tome described 34 years of Xu's travel experiences, and has
become evaluated the greatest geographical and travel work in Chinese history (one of the greatest in
the world), with many Chinese calling Xu the greatest tourist in their history.
note: much of the information
on this page was provided to
me by student Athena Deng --
thanks go to her!
on this page was provided to
me by student Athena Deng --
thanks go to her!
There were other reasons for choosing that date.
For example, it's at the height of springtime with usually-beautiful weather, and so May is already a
popular tourist-travel season in China and also in its neighboring nations. Secondly, since 1970 the
United Nations World Tourism Organization's "World Tourism Day" is September 27th, in early
autumn, so they set the China Tourism Day in the late spring in order to "balance" that on the
calendar (this makes sense from the view of Chinese philosophy of cyclical-symmetry, as in the I Ching).
"读万卷书，行万里路" or Duwan juan-shu, Xing wanli-lu, was declared to be the theme of the first
China Tourism Day -- in English, "Read many travelogues, and Make many trips!".
For example, it's at the height of springtime with usually-beautiful weather, and so May is already a
popular tourist-travel season in China and also in its neighboring nations. Secondly, since 1970 the
United Nations World Tourism Organization's "World Tourism Day" is September 27th, in early
autumn, so they set the China Tourism Day in the late spring in order to "balance" that on the
calendar (this makes sense from the view of Chinese philosophy of cyclical-symmetry, as in the I Ching).
"读万卷书，行万里路" or Duwan juan-shu, Xing wanli-lu, was declared to be the theme of the first
China Tourism Day -- in English, "Read many travelogues, and Make many trips!".
In the first article of that book,
Xu wrote, "癸丑之三月晦，自
宁海出西门，云散日朗，人意
山光，具有喜态……". That
means, on the last day of the
Third Moon of KuiChou Year
(1613), Xu traveled west from
Ninghai Town (of ZheJiang
Province), and on that day the
sun was shining and sky was
blue, and his mood found the
views to be glorious.
Xu wrote, "癸丑之三月晦，自
宁海出西门，云散日朗，人意
山光，具有喜态……". That
means, on the last day of the
Third Moon of KuiChou Year
(1613), Xu traveled west from
Ninghai Town (of ZheJiang
Province), and on that day the
sun was shining and sky was
blue, and his mood found the
views to be glorious.