By Yue Hongyan

The National Tourism Administration of China (CNTA) announced Tuesday in Beijing that National Tourism Day of China will fall on May 19 every year starting this year.

"We choose May 19 as the National Tourism Day because it was the date when Xu Xiake (1587-1641) started to write his famous book Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, which to this day serves as a strong link between culture and tourism," said Zhu Shanzhong, the vice-chairman of CNTA. "It is also the high season for travel as it is spring time in most parts of China during this period."

Recognized as one of the most famous travelers and geographers in Chinese history, Xu traveled through China for more than 30 years, documenting every step of his journey. On May 19, 1613, Xu wrote the first sentence of  his book in Ninghai, Zhejiang Province. Since 2000, Ninghai has proposed to set this day as National Tourism Day.

The decision to establish the day was first floated in 2009 and was followed by a poll of nearly 1 million netizens of sina.com to determine the exact date.

Runners-up included March 29, the day Xu started his trip, and December 26, the birthday of Mao Zedong.

"China has entered a period of mass tourism, so we hope to promote tourism by establishing National Tourism Day, with the aim of supporting tourist initiatives throughout the country," said Zhu.