Society
Hunan's tourism day proposal 'absurd'
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-15 07:07
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Hunan tourism bureau's proposal to set late Chairman Mao Zedong's birthday on Dec 26 as the national tourism day has met with opposition from netizens, with many saying the province is trying to "use the great leader's heritage to boost local revenue".
The proposal came in response to a call by the national tourism authority to solicit a date for the country's national tourism day.
Beside Hunan province being Mao's birthplace, the bureau listed 10 reasons to support its proposal, one of them being the date 12/26 which, when said in Hunan local dialect, sounds like "inviting you to travel", Hunan Daily reported yesterday.
Several places in the country have become tourist attractions all thanks to Mao, it said.
The bureau further said as Mao's birthday falls close to the New Year on Jan 1, "people can make use of the two holidays for long-distance travel".
The proposal has sparked a heated debate on the Internet, with many users voicing their opposition to the idea.
"The reasons (Hunan tourism bureau has given) are absurd," a netizen from Chongqing said in a forum on sina.com, a major news portal in China. "Chairman Mao should be commemorated, but setting a tourism day for the public to travel around is not the way to go about it."
The National Tourism Administration of China (CNTA) asked provincial tourism bureaus for their proposals by Jan 20, a CNTA official, surnamed Shen, said yesterday.
"We have received Hunan's proposal. Suggestions from provincial tourism bureaus were only part of the considerations to select a date," she said.
"We are also soliciting ideas from netizens and experts. All proposals will be compiled in a detailed report and presented to the State Council, which will take a final decision," she said.
A sina.com poll, which had attracted 382,000 netizens until yesterday, showed that some 370,000 netizens were in favor of setting the day to commemorate Xu Xiake, a famous tourist in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Half of them voted for March 29, when Xu began his travels, while the other half voted for May 19, the date he began writing travel books.
Others said June 6, which, when said in mandarin, sounds like "let's stroll", was an easy date to remember.
Many thought Dec 26 was not an ideal time to travel due to the winter.
"Hunan's proposal is more of an attempt to promote local tourism and economy," a netizen from Nanjing wrote.
"It's not right to make a profit out of commemorating a great man," another netizen from Zhejiang said.
Hunan is building a 32-m statue of Mao in the Juzizhou tourist site in Changsha. It is expected to be the tallest statue of the late leader ever made, Xinhua had reported earlier.
