No time for time off

It is not the time to promote a nationwide leisure and tourism campaign, says an article in www.rednet.cn. The following is an excerpt:

Recently some provinces, including Guangdong, Shandong and Henan, launched their province-wide leisure programs. A broader nationwide plan for such a purpose is being drafted and is expected to come out within the year, according to Zhu Shanzhong, an official with the State Tourism Administration. The plan is prompting calls for the resumption of the seven-day Labor Day holiday and some people are even advocating extending the Spring Festival holiday from seven to 15 days.

It seems China is entering a nationwide leisure era. But such an ambitious plan is impracticable and, if implemented, will hurt the country's economic development.

China has achieved great economic progresses in the past three decades and people's living conditions are much improved. But it is still a developing country and more than two-thirds of its populations are farmers who have just solved their food and clothing problems and are now struggling for a better life. Any leisure program cannot be considered nationwide without the participation of this large group.

The calls for such programs are mainly made by the tourism sector and the most positive reactions to it are mainly from government employees and the wealthy. But the tourism industry is not an appropriate one to push for a nationwide tourism program aimed at "improving ordinary people's welfare." Such plans, under whatever guise, are for the benefit of the tourism sector itself.

Instead of talking about a nationwide leisure campaign China should work hard and keep the economic growing.

(China Daily 03/02/2009 page2)